Sana’a: Oman’s foreign minister stirred up considerable debate in Yemen when he proposed initiating a new version of the Gulf-brokered deal that brought an end the regime of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh three years ago.

Yousuf Bin Alawi told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al Awsat early this month that Yemen is in need of a new settlement as some political parties that were involved in the first peace deal complained about marginalisation during the transitional period that followed the ratification of the deal.

Yemen’s six neighbouring states sponsored a peace deal, known as the GCC deal, in 2011 when massive protests seeking to unseat the former president were staged on the streets. Under the deal that was signed in the Saudi capital in November 2011, Saleh handed over power to his deputy in exchange for immunity from prosecution against alleged crimes committed during his reign. The deal also proposed a transitional period starting with electing a consensual president and ending with a referendum on a new constitution and presidential and parliamentarian elections. The deal assigned president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to call the country’s political forces to engage in the National Dialogue Conference to blueprint a road map for the future of the country.

“In the course of the National Dialogue, differences [between the parties] occurred when everyone felt that the other party wanted to sideline it. These differences did not exist at the beginning of 2011. So, we thought of initiating deal two that brings together different parties with a new perspective,” Bin Alawi said in the interview.

There has been no official comment on the suggestion in Yemen, but the General People’s Congress, the party of the former president, quickly welcomed the Omani suggestion.

Abu Bakr Al Giribi, the party’s assistant secretary-general, told the same newspaper that his party supports the suggestion, saying the proposed “complementary deal” would contribute to the implementation of the National Dialogue Conference and solve disputes between political forces in Yemen.

The former president and party have many times criticised the incumbent president for siding with opponents and cherry-picking terms of the GCC deal. Saleh’s official media rejoiced the news of a new GCC deal that could see Hadi out of office.

‘Balanced implementation’

Nabeel Al Soufi, a pro-Saleh journalist, told Gulf News that the Omanis did not mean to initiate a new deal, but were rather looking for a full and “balanced” implementation of the first GCC deal.

“The Omanis [want] a balanced implementation of the current deal. When the world was silently watching Hadi and the February Revolution forces breaching the deal, the Omanis raised their voice about the importance of a balanced dealing with the deal.”

Al Soufi said that Hadi and allied forces violated that GCC deal when he restructured the military and security services before the beginning of the National Dialogue. Shortly after taking charge in 2012, the Yemen president dismissed many army generals, including Saleh’s relatives, from their leading positions in the army and dissolved the elite Republican Guard that was commanded by Saleh’s son, Ahmad.

Al Soufi said: “The deal asserts that the National Dialogue is tasked to reconstruct the army and the military committee brings back defected units,” adding that Hadi preempted the conference and issued decrees, reshuffling the military apparatus.

Al Houthi rebels, who fought with the former president for six years, recently surfaced as a powerful force when they took over the capital on September 21.

Political analysts like Ali Hassan Saif link the Omani suggestion to Al Houthis’ emergence and a future role for Iran in Yemen.

“The Omanis want to reinstall Iran as a new player in the political settlement in Yemen through the officials channels,” he said.