Back to revolution?

Yemen's prime minister calls for a return to the street, but few are listening, writes Nasser Arrabyee

The Yemeni prime minister of the national unity government, Mohamed Basundawa, has called for a return to "revolution" after nine months of political settlement.

Basundawa accused the former regime of thwarting the political settlement that was based on a Saudi-led and US-backed Gulf deal, known as the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Initiative.

In an article written in a Saudi newspaper this week, Basundawa, who is also the chairman of the National Council of the Revolution Forces, called for renouncing the GCC Initiative and returning to the squares to continue the "revolution".

Such statements sparked much criticism on Basundawa, who has seemed weak and unable to take national responsibility for rescuing Yemen from chaos.

"This is just political extortion. Basundawa wants to extort the sponsors of the GCC Initiative; he wants them to side with him against the other parties," said Mohamed Al-Makaleh, a political analyst.

Al-Makaleh said Basundawa should resign if he cannot continue as prime minister. "But I think he does not want to resign, he only wants Qatar and Saudi Arabia to side with him," he said.

The Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakul Karman called upon Basundawa to resign.

"Because we respect Mr Basundawa, we want him to resign immediately as long as he cannot do his job," said Karman.

Karman and Al-Makaleh, respectively, are leading members in the Islamist and socialist parties, the largest parties in the six-party coalition that shares in government with the party of the former regime, the People's General Congress (PGC).

The PGC, which controls 50 per cent in the Basundawa government, is also accusing Basundawa of obstructing the political settlement. The party accuses him of implementing the instructions of influential tribal and religious leaders in the Islamist Party, which is trying to dominate the political scene.

"The People's General Congress has been implementing the GCC Initiative unilaterally, while the other parties have been doing everything possible to obstruct it," said Aref Al-Zuka, assistant secretary-general of the party.

The controversial statements of Basundawa that were first published in a Saudi newspaper came one day before President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi paid a visit to Saudi Arabia to attend an urgent Islamic summit and discuss the Yemeni political and economic situation with the Saudi monarch.

President Hadi is expected to explain to the Saudi leadership that Yemen needs urgent assistance and that donors and friends of Yemen should not wait longer.

FRIENDS OF YEMEN: A high-level "consultative group" meeting for the "Friends of Yemen" will be held in Riyadh on 4-5 September. The meeting precedes the fourth gathering of the Friends of Yemen and the upcoming second donor conference, both to be held in New York on 27 September.

The meetings will coincide with the deliberations of the 67th UN General Assembly. The Riyadh meetings will lay the foundation for the upcoming New York meetings, which are expected to raise aid for Yemen.

On 4-5 September, Yemen's ministry of planning and international cooperation will co-chair a meeting with Saudi Arabia's finance ministry and the World Bank Group. The 4 September meeting will be devoted to bilateral and international donors. The meeting of 5 September will be devoted to the private sector, humanitarian and non-governmental organisations.

Senior representatives of the Friends of Yemen group will also meet in New York on 27 September to assess progress of the democratic transition process and address obstacles facing its implementation. Friends of Yemen have expressed on numerous occasions their political commitment to supporting President Hadi and the national unity government.

The Friends of Yemen meeting will also coincide with the Yemen Donor Conference. Representatives of more than 30 multilateral donors, governments, businesses and non-governmental organisations will attend the New York conference to address Yemen's worsening humanitarian and economic crisis.

The global forum will discuss the transitional programme for stabilisation and development in Yemen. Donors are expected to announce additional funding to support Yemen's transition process, addressing both short and long-term development needs. In addition, the conference will re-energise the delivery of previous aid pledges.

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