A Yemeni government source told Al-Jazeera that Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud, the Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense, asked President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to announce the new Yemeni government at their recent meeting in Riyadh.
The source added that the Yemeni government is under Saudi pressure to announce the new government without implementing the military part of the Riyadh agreement signed with the Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the UAE.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia submitted a proposal to partially formally implement the security and military part in exchange for the government's announcement, and added that Riyadh had informed the Yemeni president of its objection to the candidates for the sovereign ministries in the government, and requested that they be replaced with new names.
A Yemeni government source told Al-Jazeera last Thursday that President Hadi would not sign the declaration of forming a new government before the Emirati-backed Transitional Council announced its commitment to implementing the military part of the Riyadh Agreement concluded in November 2019, while the Transitional Council insists on implementing the political part first.
Last Thursday, the Yemeni President - residing in Riyadh - met Khaled bin Salman, Deputy Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, and the Yemeni presidency said that the meeting discussed the situation and developments in the Yemeni arena in various political, military and security aspects, and the means to implement the Riyadh Agreement and the mechanism to accelerate its implementation.
Deputy Defense Minister # Saudi Arabia meets with President # Yemen Abd Rabbu Mansour # Hadi ... and tweets: Failure to implement # Riyadh Agreement will take place the scene pic.twitter.com/tZORsnVGy2
- Hashtag Program (@ajmhashtag) November 26, 2020
The execution mechanism faltered
The Saudi-Emirati coalition announced at the end of last July a mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement, including the transitional council’s abandonment of self-management in the southern governorates, and the formation of a government of equal competencies between the south and the north.
The mechanism also includes the continuation of the ceasefire, the departure of the military forces from the Aden Governorate, the separation of the forces of the two parties (the government and the Transitional Council) in the southern province of Abyan, and their return to their previous locations.
The time plan stipulated the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement within a period not exceeding 90 days, but this time passed without implementing any of its most prominent provisions.
In August 2016, the Southern Transitional Council militants took control of the interim capital, Aden, and neighboring governorates, and on April 25, 2020, the Transitional Council announced the Autonomous Administration in the areas it controls, which the Yemeni government considered a coup against the Riyadh Agreement.
On July 29, the Yemeni president issued decisions assigning Prime Minister Maeen Abdul-Malik to form a new government, appointing a governor and director of its security for Aden, and the Transitional Council announced that it would freeze its announcement of the Autonomous Administration.
Supporters of the movement
In another development, supporters of the Southern Movement in Hadramout Governorate (eastern Yemen) called for an end to the war in Abyan Governorate, describing it as absurd.
In a statement, the Revolutionary Movement Council said - in a statement after a march organized in the city of Mukalla to commemorate the independence of southern Yemen from British colonialism - that the nature of the stage and the sharp polarizations and its control over the decisions of some political forces hinder the realization of any national project.
The Movement Council called on all forces to take a lesson from the mistakes and tragedies of the past, unify visions, and stand firm in front of regional projects that detract from national rights and sovereignty.