Southern National Dialogue Conference.. "parallel files" are at the forefront of challenges
English - Sunday 07 May 2023 الساعة 03:56 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
For nearly two decades of unstable political time in Yemen, the solution to the southern issue has been postponed or approached with half-solutions, despite it being an urgent priority issue to achieve political stability that guarantees all aspects of stability throughout the country.
Now that the southern cause has become supported by a wide range of strong and steadfast political components on the principle of the priority of this issue, the Southern Transitional Council is taking the initiative and launching a dialogue conference for the southern components inside and outside the country. How can the efforts of the Transitional Council to unify its efforts lead to the efforts of the other components in light of the current complex situation, and what is the impact of the war that has been going on for nine years and its consequences on the available solutions to the southern issue?
The following is an attempt to approach the complexities surrounding the issue in light of these questions and other challenges that pose themselves in front of the Southern Transitional Council's efforts to reach a national strategic formula to unite southerners in the next stage.
The consultative meeting of the components of the peaceful southern movement, held in Aden (4-7 May 2023) at the initiative of the Transitional Council, came at a very sensitive time, as talks are active between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Houthi militia, in preparation for a Saudi-sponsored peace agreement between the Houthi militia and other national forces represented in The Presidential Leadership Council, which includes among its members four southern leaders, i.e. half of the strength of the Council.
Significant pluses
At the opening of the meeting, the speech of Major General Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, Chairman of the Transitional Council and a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, included general determinants based on the agenda of the Southern Dialogue Conference. It was remarkable in his speech that he emphasized distancing himself from treason and exclusion as one of the basic conditions for the success of the dialogue and unifying the position of all forces and components regarding determining and determining the fate of the South. Among the remarkable advantages of the conference is the presence of acceptable and consensual personalities, such as Major General Mahmoud Al-Subaihi and other weighty southern personalities, whether they are part of the components participating in the conference or guests of honor. The conference also received the blessing of a wide spectrum of activists at home and abroad. And veteran southern political figures, most notably the former President of the South and Prime Minister of the Unity State, Haidar Abu Bakr Al-Attas, who issued a press release in which he indicated his keen follow-up of the preparations and proceedings of the consultative meeting and the local, regional and international circumstances during which it was held. He affirmed his confidence that the southern leaders participating in this conference are capable of "assuming the tasks of this stage."
Despite the preparation of a draft of a "southern national charter" before the conference was held, the second day of its convening witnessed the formation of five committees and the definition of their tasks, at the forefront of which was the "committee for drafting the southern national charter", "the committee on the foundations and principles of negotiation", "the committee on the foundations of building the desired southern state", The Final Statement Drafting Committee, and the State Restoration Directions Committee and the Management of the Current Phase. The time available to these committees to accomplish their tasks may be very short, but their mere formation reflects the participants' awareness of what they gathered for. Therefore, if these committees come out with broad outline drafts of their tasks, this will form a basis for continuing work on them and crystallizing their ideas after the end of the conference.
stage challenges
Perhaps the challenges facing the Transitional Council and the rest of the components of the Southern Movement are clear, the most prominent of which is reaching a state of complete agreement, regionally and mainly internationally, on deciding the fate of the South and restoring its state on the pre-May 22, 1990 borders, which has been repeatedly talked about since the beginning of the Southern Peaceful Movement since 1990. 2007. However, this is only the main goal, while most of the challenges lie in the way to reach it. One of the pending challenges facing the southern powers that are at the forefront of the current scene is what was revealed by the statements of some of its participants during the past two days. They are challenges related to what they called "parallel files", foremost of which is "partnership with the northern parties within the framework of legitimacy and negotiations with the Houthis." This means moving forward without delay in implementing or completing the implementation of the military and security part of the Riyadh Agreement (November 2019), provided that no progress will be made in this file if the “northern parties within the legitimacy” remain static or if they show intransigence in making concessions. In the end, the southern parties are based on the southern issue, which has long been dealt with by ignoring or by half-solutions. The time has come to present solutions that are acceptable to the southern powers, especially in matters that are agreed upon.
The Transitional Council and the rest of the components of the peaceful southern movement may need to reduce the escalation that rears its head from time to time, whether between the southern forces or with the northern forces. And relying on diplomatic action more than military escalation, although this de-escalation requires responsible steps by the northern forces affiliated with the legitimate government, as these forces have not yet dared to admit the enormity of the mistake of the summer war of 1994, not to mention the official apology of the south for that ill-fated war. And about the potentials of southern geography being violated by a small group of northern influencers.
Bridging the gap
From the "parallel files" on the agenda of the Southern Dialogue Conference, transitional justice for those affected by conflicts since independence in 1967, to signing unity in 1990. This file needs broad consensus and consensus as long as it is opened with sincerity and good faith, as it is an important part of the procedures that will form a solid foundation Not only to expand the scope of reconciliation and tolerance in the south, but it will be an inspiring experience for the north as well, especially after the transitional justice issue faltered when its file was opened at the National Dialogue Conference in Sana’a (2013-2014).
Progress in the southern transitional justice file will pave the way for laying the foundations of federalism at the level of the southern geography. In this file, the forces participating in the consultative meeting, and even those components that have apologized for participating, may need to benefit from the experience of the failure of this file in the National Dialogue Conference. In Sana'a, where some parties' concern for their own interests led to stalled discussions on the file of building a federal state. There are many mistakes that can be learned from this experiment, the failure of which led to the outbreak of an all-out war throughout the geography of Greater Yemen.
data for the current stage
At a time when the southern powers are racing against time to arrange their cards at the level of the southern interior, efforts to establish peace in Yemen continue in general, and the Security Council and the international community continue to include in its decisions support for "the unity, safety and stability of the Yemeni lands." This means that the form of the federal state may not be confined to the southern geography only if its implementation is successful. Rather, it could be one of the items of future talks for the form of the Yemeni state in the north and south, especially with what the war resulted in the intractability of the northern regions over the control of the Houthi militia. Despite her attempt to control it with all the methods of the imam system that she inherited from her ancestors. The conclusion is that the ongoing talks that Saudi Arabia is adopting with the Houthis will not succeed if the southern powers remain uninterested in them, even with regard to the northern geography under the control of the Houthis. As long as large areas of Taiz, Al-Hodeidah, Marib and Al-Bayda remain outside their control, they constitute a strong strategic depth for the south in front of the Houthi militia's ambitions to control all of Yemen. Perhaps the performance and deployment areas of the Giants Brigades and the National Resistance Forces is the best evidence of realizing what this fortified strategic depth means.
