Yemeni Parliament Speaker Arrived in Seiyun Amid Popular Rejection

South24 | Reports 

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The Speaker of the Yemeni Parliament, Sultan Albarkani, and his deputy, Mohammad Alshaddadi, arrived today on Tuesday in the city of Seiyun, coming from Riyadh, amid a popular and Southern political refusal to open the parliament’s headquarters in Seiyun.

The "expired" parliament speaker was received by Deputy Speaker Mohsen Basura, Minister of Interior in the parity government Ibrahim Haidan, and Hadramout Governorate Undersecretary for the Wadi and Desert Affairs Essam Al-Kathiri.

The "expired" parliament speaker, Sultan Albarkani, tweeted upon his arrival: "We have reached this pure land, where we will meet with the best of its men and leaders, and learn about the conditions of its citizens."

Activists expressed their discontent with the arrival of the Speaker of Parliament, considering that "parliament members do not represent the Southerners," as most of the members of Parliament are under the control of the Houthi group in North Yemen, and there is no real representation of the will of the Southern people, who demand the restoration of their state.

"The Yemeni parliament is the one who legitimized the occupation of South in 1994, and who justified the looting of Hadramout’s wealth and the abuse of its people", "Ahrar Hadramout" group tweeted. 

STC National Assembly President Ahmed bin Break, warned in his Twitter account last Thursday against holding the parliament’s meetings in Seiyun saying, “The Wadi and Seiyun quake the feet of the dwarves, who sold Marib, and wants to legitimize themselves in the land of South.”

The STC National Assembly is the parliament that represents all the governorates of South Yemen, but the Riyadh Agreement signed by Hadi’s government with the STC in Nov. 2019 made it a partner in the parity government.

Despite this, the relationship between the two parties of the Riyadh Agreement worsened, which led to the faltering implementation of all provisions of the agreement, especially the military aspect.

Seiyun witnessed a mass demonstration called by the STC on the anniversary of the "Southern Land Day" this July, which announced its refusal to hold sessions of the Yemeni Parliament, and demanded the presence of the Hadrami Elite Forces in Wadi Hadramout instead of the Northern forces of the 1st Military District, within the Riyadh Agreement.

Northern forces confronted the peaceful demonstrators in an attempt to prevent their access to the square, but the Yemeni Parliament does not seem to care about the voices of the street.

The Yemeni parliament is trying to revive itself after the stalemate that has befallen it for many years, and documented sources of "16 parliamentarians" were published two days ago, calling on President Hadi to dismiss the leadership of the central bank, and to compel governorate governors to supply central and local resources to the central bank.

The country is suffering from a catastrophic economic crisis in light of the collapse of the Yemeni riyal against foreign currencies, without concrete solutions, due to the printing of the 1000 riyal denomination by the Central Bank without the availability of cash cover.

Two years ago, the Yemeni Parliament held its 1st session in the city of Seiyun, since the outbreak of the civil war in Yemen, after the Houthi group took control of the capital, Sanaa, in Sep. 2014, but it froze again after their presence in Riyadh.  

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Photo: Official pictures showing the leadership of the "expired" Yemeni parliament arriving Seiyun