Five years of national resistance... from the sidelines to the fore
English - Saturday 29 April 2023 الساعة 04:47 pm
Mokha, NewsYemen, Nader Al-Soufi:
A few days ago, the national resistance and its political bureau, led by Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, completed its fifth year and crossed the threshold of the sixth year in its career. At a sensitive time, when the Yemeni arena is witnessing an accelerating political movement at various levels, locally, regionally and internationally, to reach a peace agreement that stops the war. The resistance has contributed to creating the conditions that have reached this level through its presence, its political stances, and its military efforts on the ground during the past years.
It is no secret that the national resistance, since its inception on April 19, 2018, was the main goal of its leadership to confront the Houthi militia and follow the path of the battle launched by the events of December 2, 2017, which were detonated by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and led to his martyrdom, along with the Secretary-General of the Congress Party Aref Zuca.
In addition, the next goal was to become among the forces present and influential in the political and military equation in Yemen, like other parties present in the arena. And to play a pivotal role in determining the fate of the Yemeni crisis, according to the broad lines drawn up by "the restoration of the republic as a pluralistic democratic system with an independent Arab identity that protects cultural and political diversity without ethnic and sectarian biases."
During the five years of its march, which was completed on April 19, 2023, the national resistance took a arduous path in which it faced many challenges and obstacles, militarily and politically, until today it reached an advanced and major position in the map of local balances, and contributed to drawing the boundaries of the ongoing interactions at the level of the crisis in general.
How did it reach its goals, what did it go through, and how did it deal with it? This is what we will try in this comprehensive report to provide integrated answers to, by re-reading its path in a detailed and accurate way, analyzing the various transformations that the resistance and its leaders experienced from its founding until the present moment, and discussing the challenges that it faced. It faced it, the achievements it reaped, where it succeeded and where it failed, and how it dealt with the developments and changes of the local scene during the various stages.
Hard road and many stops
Since Brigadier General Tariq Saleh arrived and proceeded to establish the "Republican Guard" brigades with the support and sponsorship of the Arab coalition countries, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the support and protection of the southern resistance, led by the forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council. The national resistance faced many challenges in working to gather and recruit individuals, form units, and secure the transition from the governorates of northern Yemen to Aden, from many parties that saw this bloc as a threat to their takeover of the arena, led by the Houthi militia, which had always feared the growth of the resistance.
With great caution, Brigadier General Tariq Saleh continued to walk on a field of mines to pass that stage until he completed the mobilization and equipment of the forces and began to engage in the military operations theater in the confrontations that raged on the various fronts of the West Coast, starting from the Khaled bin Al-Walid camp in Mocha. Throughout the year 2018, he participated in the battles with his comrades-in-arms in the joint forces, "Al-Amaliqa, Al-Tuhamia, Al-Zaraniq", and their efforts on the ground achieved great progress and almost completed control of the city and governorate of Al-Hodeidah completely had it not been for international pressure.
Practically, freezing the battle of Hodeidah as a result of the Stockholm Agreement is considered the first and most important challenge that stopped the momentum of the national resistance, leaving it, along with the rest of the joint forces units, exposed to violations by the Houthi militia and subjected to attrition until it was able to disengage from this pincer in February 2021 after the implementation of the withdrawal and redeployment process.
Despite the fact that the guards of the republic and the comrades-in-arms on the West Coast possessed high military capabilities, they remained restricted on those fronts. This is due to the internal conflicts between the components of the legitimacy at the time, which caused the national battle to freeze in the face of the Houthi militia, and preferred to take over the various battle fronts in other governorates, and its reluctance to engage the living forces that have the willingness to fight the battle and the combat capabilities.
Political exclusion and media incitement
During the years following the freezing of the battle, the national resistance was subjected to political exclusion and marginalization, and the refusal to recognize its legitimacy from the poles of the Yemeni legitimate authority at the time, "former President Hadi and the Islah Party."
At the same time, it suffered for many years from systematic media incitement campaigns that targeted its cohesion and tried to strain its relations with various partners in the national arena, spreading rumors and poisoning relations and the atmosphere, in an attempt to confuse the movements and confuse the efforts to establish the national resistance.
- Breaking the isolation.. "The Political Bureau"
Politically, it was necessary for Brigadier General Tariq Saleh to lead the national resistance in the way out of the state of isolation and breaking the imposed cycle of marginalization and exclusion. And taking a bold step to penetrate the political sphere, and move from being a military entity within the forces stationed on the fronts to confront the Houthi militia, to becoming an active political component, and this was achieved with the establishment of the Political Bureau on March 25, 2021.
This step represented the first transformation in her career, paving the way for him to engage in political activity and export stances and discourse that represent a wide segment of the people of Yemen, and help him open channels of communication, build relations with political forces and parties, and communicate their demands. And in general, to move in the path of partnership in power and achieve its goals, and to transform from a mere military entity into a political bloc that has an audible voice.
- From the margins to the depth... a partner in power and decision-making
The efforts of Brigadier General Tariq Saleh contributed to the political bureau becoming an influential force in the political scene, and to seizing a seat among the main parties. His efforts were crowned with success when Saudi Arabia's invitation to the various Yemeni forces to participate in the Riyadh consultations in March-April 2022 revived his demands for achieving change through a partial settlement between the components of legitimacy, and resulted in the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council.
At this moment, the most important shift in his career occurred when the political and military equation changed in Yemen in general, and in the structure of legitimacy in particular.
Where he became one of the eight members of the Presidency, which is the highest executive authority recognized regionally and internationally, and part of the power structure, and gained political, moral and legal legitimacy, and the recognition of various forces as a present and active party in the Yemeni arena. Doors were opened for him as a person or as an entity, and they were employed in the service of his endeavors to enhance his presence and his movements in the internal political space, and his voice became heard and he met government officials and issued directives, and his movements became colored in his official website, in addition to local and foreign meetings and contacts with envoys and ambassadors.
A full year... many achievements and limited failures
The previous years of the national resistance, from its inception until the beginning of 2022, constituted a long stage in its journey, during which the achievements it reaped were equal to the obstacles that restricted it. However, the transformations that took place during the year-long period since the formation of the Leadership Council until today are different from what preceded it, as it changed the course of events for it and represented the beginning of comprehensive changes in the performance, tools and capabilities of the resistance, its political office and Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, who succeeded to a large extent in investing and employing that transformation And deal with it discreetly.
At the level of the political office, he witnessed the expansion of his political activity and his organizational growth in areas on the western coast, "Al-Mokha", Taiz Governorate, and "Al-Khawkhah" in Al-Hodeidah, in addition to the city of Taiz, Shabwa and Marib. The meetings are held under the leadership of branches of political parties, civil forces, military forces, social figures and local authorities. The office's branches are now active and holding events, participating in meetings of local authorities and contributing with other forces in presenting initiatives. And the opening of last March, on the anniversary of the founding, a branch in Ibb governorate, with the growth of the parliamentary bloc with the addition of new names from the members of the Yemeni Parliament, and now it contains about 25 members.
The map of relations and alliances established by Brigadier General Tariq Saleh with the Southern Transitional Council, which was considered the most prominent ally in the south, has also expanded. While his relations with the parties: the Socialist Party, the Nasserist Party, and the Congress recorded a great rapprochement according to the rule of building a political alliance aimed at strengthening the path of partnership and reforms in the legitimate government and local authorities. It is being translated at the level of branches of these forces in several provinces. According to his rejection of attempts at exclusion and marginalization, he called in more than one invitation to the Islah Party to engage in it, and forced the party to back down from classifying Tariq Saleh as an enemy and to enter into a political and media calm in preparation for ending any causes of disagreement.
This does not hide that it faced challenges during the year, most notably the dispute between the components of legitimacy, which weakened their political position in front of the Houthi militia.
An attractive model and a conciliatory approach that opens doors
Based on the general principles that Brigadier General Tariq Saleh possesses, he opened the doors of the Political Bureau to the various names and political, social and military components of membership in the Bureau in order to become an influential part of its orientations, which was achieved with the joining of many names of politicians, parliamentarians, social figures and military leaders, and the expansion of the representation base with time. To include multiple segments to the north, south, east and west, in Hodeidah, Taiz, the city and the countryside, Ibb, Sana’a, Shabwa, and the various regions of Tihama, Al-Zaraniq, Marib and Al-Jawf.
The balanced discourse, which did not depart from Tariq Saleh's statements, contributed politically and in the media, and its translation in practice into non-confrontational behavior and cooperative daily stances. In reassuring the various forces present in the national arena, and with time they praise statements and movements and ignore the campaigns of confusion, and for them the real criterion is looking at practices and practical positions.
This is reinforced by the success of Tariq Saleh, in presenting an attractive model in the areas of the West Coast. He worked on developing the performance of local authorities and supporting them. He was interested in the development and service projects that he is building with Emirati support, such as the airport and port of Al-Mokha, Al-Kadha-Taiz road, and several projects in the fields of water, electricity, roads, building schools and support hospitals, relief and humanitarian aid, and during his visit to the city of Taiz, he inaugurated a water project with Emirati support.
The conciliatory discourse and the development model presented by Tariq Saleh, in addition to the failure of the Houthi militia to provide services to the people, starving them, and its repressive practices, as well as other parties, have helped create popular and social acceptability and a change in the political and media discourse towards national resistance, which has become open to public opinion in various governorates.
- A new equation.. The present shines on the future
Thus, the rules of the game and the political and military equation in Yemen changed, and the national resistance and its political office, led by Tariq Saleh, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, took a seat in the existing balance of power in the national arena, as a partner in power and decision-making and part of the political process and the ongoing movement to settle the conflict and resolve the crisis.
If those achievements were reaped in the darkest circumstances, when competition is at its peak, and were fueled by the fears of some forces of the growing resistance and its wresting of a share of political and authoritarian influence; Its ability at the present time will support it in the next stage to advance the course of transformations so that it becomes a component present in all Yemeni regions politically, organizationally and active in various fields, especially in the event that efforts and political movement reach an agreement to stop the war and establish a permanent ceasefire. This will open the way for Brigadier General Tariq Saleh to develop performance and political and social tools.
On the other hand, the military capabilities and objectives remain in a state of readiness to complete the basic path in confronting the Houthi militia on the ground, and achieving goals by force of arms, as evidenced by his repeated statements, "We will enter Sana'a and restore the republic, through peace or war."
