Sana’a: Political and religious forces in Yemen are divided over a proposal to turn the country into a federal state and to find a solution to the two-decade grievances in the south.
To make a breakthrough in the stalled transitional dialogue, the UN Special enjoy to Yemen Jamal Bin Omar recently proposed a roadmap for solving the southern issue.
The document agreed on the principle of changing the structure of the country from a centralised state into a united state composed of semi-autonomous regions.
But some points of the document did not please many forces. One of these controversial points is that the region’s authorities are responsible for the management and development of natural resources, including oil and gas, and awarding contracts for exploration.
Southerners have long complained that the country’s wealth is exclusively controlled by powerful tribal and military figures from the north.
The other issue that riased controversy was the call for the federal constitution to include a clause requiring the South to be represented in 50 per cent of the top executive, legislative and judicial bodies, as well as the army and the parliament.
This point irritated the densely populated north who said that it is not fair to equally share positions and wealth with southerners who constitute 25 per cent of the population.
The document calls on president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to form a panel to decide the number of regions in the federation.
Signature
Some major parties in the national dialogue like Al Houthis and some representatives of Southern Movement and a senior member of General People’s Congress (GPC), immediately signed the document on December 23.
The Yemen Socialist Party later changed its mind and signed the document with the proviso that that the National Dialogue Conference and not Hadi, form the committee that will decide on the number of regions of the federal state.
Differences
The document also caused difference with members of the GPC, the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hadi, who is the second in command in the party, and Abdul Karim Al Iryani favoured the document, but most leaders, including Saleh, strongly rejected the document. Saleh-affiliated media blasted the two senior members and said that they did not act on the behalf of the party.
The party issued a statement giving the reasons for going against Bin Omar’s document. The party said that the document will cause damage to the national unity and the future of unified Yemen.
The party said that the document replaces the GCC initiative and its implementation mechanism which was “widely approved in Yemen”. They added that the distribution of power and wealth should be based on population and area.
In an attempt to find a middle ground, Hadi on Saturday called for a meeting with GPC’s high ranking members.
The party’s officials declined Gulf News’ requests for a comment on the proceedings of the meeting.
But pro-Saleh media said that the meeting was “blunt” and Hadi showed understanding to the party’s objection
Theological debates
The document also triggered theological debates between religious figures in the country. A religious commission led by Abdul Majed Al Zindani, completely rejected the document, saying that it would lead to the split of the country.
In a statement, the commission called for Islam to be cited as the “only source of legislation” as it is in the current cosntitution. The signed document refers to international conventions but does not mention religion.
The statement said that the document legalises the succession and puts the country “under international trusteeship by inviting international bodies to continue to monitor the output of the national dialogue”.
But another council of Islamic clerics in the province of Hadrmaout differed with Al Zindani’s commission in terms of regions and distribution of wealth. The council, which is based in south, said that there is no religious objection to dividing the country into units to run themselves and their wealth.
Also, the religious council of the hard line factions of Southern Movement said that they are not concerned with document and it does not represent the “people of South”.
