Yemen remains caught between past and future

What the Arabic-language media says about the Houthis in Yemen, including Al Hayat, Al Ittihad and Asharq Al Awsat.

Houthi rebels fight with some of the thousands protesting against the Shia group’s control of Sanaa. Photo: Mohammed Huwais / AFP

The Houthi takeover of Sanaa has now led to the resignation of president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and his government, dragging Yemen deeper into crisis and this is enhanced by the political vacuum and ongoing US drone strikes on Al Qaeda in Yemen.

In the pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat, Elias Harfoush said the Houthis’ progress comes as no surprise.

“Abdel Malik Al Houthi, the current leader of the rebels, now possesses all the elements that will allow him to control political and military decision-making,” he wrote.

“The Houthis have strived to reach this goal since the beginning of their confrontation with the political regime in the region of Saada over 10 years ago. They have now reached the heart of the capital and can take advantage of the president’s resignation and force members of the government to stay at home.”

The Houthis have defied their status as a minority to take advantage of Yemen’s existing contradictions. They fought former president Ali Abdullah Saleh until he became their ally.

“Mr Saleh’s sole purpose is to exploit the current conflict between the Houthis and his successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to return to power and seek revenge on the Gulf initiative that marginalised him and handed the power over to his deputy,” he added.

“However, due to the state of disintegration of Yemen and in the absence of the central government’s ability to exert any real political and military authority, Mr Saleh maintained control over the army and the Republican Guards.

Through his son Ahmad, who was commander of the Guards, Houthi rebels were allowed into Sanaa without much resistance and they reached the presidential palace after taking control of various public institutions and government buildings.

In the midst of all this chaos, Al Qaeda has been able to expand its activities.

“The Houthis do not appear to mind, for their ideological project [has] an equally extremist doctrine,” he concluded.

“It adds to the theory that the Houthis and their allies are fighting the takfiri project in Yemen.”

In Al Ittihad, the Arabic language sister newspaper of The National, Abdulwahab Baderkhan said that the Houthis have exploited gaps during the transitional period after Mr Saleh.

“The Houthis rejected the Gulf initiative but tried to use it to their own advantage. They have also taken advantage of the region’s preoccupation with ISIL,” he wrote.

In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, Abdulwahab Al Rouhani wrote that Yemen is in a constitutional vacuum and has an illegitimate parliament, whose term has lasted 12 years.

“Under the Gulf-led initiative, president Hadi’s term was to end in February 2014, only two years after his election. He was elected for the transitional period. It was similar for the rest of the institutions and entities with a sovereign, representative and supervisory role in the country”.

Yemen faces “major threats to its unity, security and stability, in addition to its regional and international relations if the situation continues as it is”, he concluded.

“Whether the president stays or goes, Yemen remains in a limbo, until further notice”.

Translated by Carla Mirza