Yemeni MPs Call on President Hadi to Return Home

Forty-four members of the Yemeni Parliament demanded the return of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the country, and work to restore the rest of the territories controlled by the Houthi group.

Parliament members urged the president, vice president, and prime minister to return to the country to perform their duties inside Yemeni territory.

The Yemeni president and most of his government officials have resided in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, since the outbreak of the war between government forces and the Houthi group in 2015.

The Yemeni Parliament’s call for the president to return comes after Riyadh supports the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.

“We demand they return to any part of Yemen and perform their duties towards the homeland and the citizens from inside,” the deputies said.

In the letter, the MPs called on the Yemeni government to “withdraw from the Stockholm Agreement for Hudaydah Governorate, in western Yemen, and work to complete the liberation of the rest of the country’s governorates from the Houthi militia.”

The deputies called for activating state institutions in the liberated areas, extending state influence and control over them, bringing down the rebellion, and restoring the state and the capital, Sanaa.

In a related context, Yemeni activists demonstrated in Taiz’s city, denouncing the rapid deterioration of the local currency and the rise in prices. Protesters held banners calling for a rescue of the local currency, which is collapsing amid government silence.

The prices of food and goods are witnessing an unprecedented increase in Taiz and several Yemeni governorates, while the Yemeni riyal has deteriorated significantly without any government measures taken to save it.

The Houthis took control of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and most cities in 2014, after President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government was expelled.

Saudi Arabia intervened at the head of an Arab coalition to support government forces in 2015, and until then, the war has killed 100,000 people, while the Houthi group still controls the capital and many essential areas.

However, secret documents showed that the Al Saud regime supported the tribes of Yemen and was aware of all the movements of the Houthi group before they took control of the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, more than two years from this date. Moreover, the regime did not act in response to the information provided by the intelligence, and it left them invading the Yemeni capital.

The documents unveiled the Al Saud strategy in Yemen to dismantle the country by supporting various groups, not the central government. This strategy guarantees these groups’ dependency on Saudi Arabia and thus serves the interest of Saudi.

These critical and secret documents paved the way for the outbreak of the war in 2015. They dealt with files that are still open until now like the position of the Al Saud regime towards the forces and personalities calling for the secession of the south, reconsideration of support for Yemeni tribes, and their failure to move to stop the Houthis from storming Sanaa despite the recommendation of Saudi intelligence to do so.

These documents obtained by Al-Jazeera channel shed light on the real agenda of Saudi Arabia, especially after it submitted last week an updated version of the Riyadh agreement between the legitimate government and the Southern Transitional Council – backed by the UAE – and trying to portray this agreement as an achievement.

The leaked documents prove the kingdom’s dedication, since the end of 2011, to several policies that pushed Yemen to reach its current state.