Yemen: a government of national unity to better fight against the Houthis

In Yemen, armed men in the capital Sanaa, May 6, 2020. REUTERS / Khaled Abdullah

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In Yemen, on December 18, a new unity government was formed.

It brings together the faithful of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and supporters of the Southern Transition Council, the political arm of the separatists.

The objective of this new cabinet set up under the aegis of Saudi Arabia is to close ranks to fight the Houthi rebels in the north of the country, ravaged by war for six years. 

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On paper, equality was well respected in the new government.

The 24 portfolios are equally distributed between, on the one hand, the supporters of the president and on the other, the Southern Transition Council.

But this does not prevent the sovereign ministries such as Defense, Interior or Foreign Affairs have all been attributed to those close to President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi. 

Under pressure from Riyadh, the separatists abandoned their attempts to control the port of Aden and agreed to a power-sharing with the government, also based in Aden.

It has been over a year since Saudi Arabia negotiated an agreement to form a new government of national unity in Yemen.

The objective is to muster all the forces to fight the Houthi rebels, supported by Iran. 

The formation of the government comes a few weeks before the inauguration of the new American president-elect Joe Biden, no doubt to show that it is possible to get out of the logic of war.

Will this compromise hold and if so, for how long?

Impossible to say, because the country remains extremely fragmented.

This war has also plunged Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis in the world according to the UN.

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To read also: Yemen: the UN urges not to worsen "an already disastrous situation"

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