Lessons of “Houthism” in Yemen [Archives:2007/1026/Opinion]
Ali Al-Zakry
Since the Al-Houthi violence broke out in June 2004, Yemen has been suffering from the fire of the sedition as a homeland paying a high price as people and as a nation. With every passing day the Houthis go further in their rebellion and Yemen's reputation deteriorates more as well as the losses of its economy, tourism and industry, let alone its stability and security that are subject to collapse.
The chief of the National Security Apparatus, Ali Mohammed Al-A'nisi, has lately disclosed that the Houthis war in Sa'ada has led to the death of 727 persons and the wounding of 5,296 in addition to losses in public and private property he estimated at $6 million.
We are in the face of a real crisis that can no longer be ignored, marginalized or hidden. The political leadership has done well to inform the political parties and forces on developments of this worrying file despite objection of those forces on the nature and volume of the information.
After the elapse of all those years on the Al-Houthi crisis it appears it is a complicated affair intermingled in an illogical form. Nevertheless it leads to a group of lessons that should be thought about and learned. It should be studied without agitation or submission to action and reaction.
First, giving priority to the narrow partisan interest to national interest would lead always to disastrous results the price of which the homeland will pay with lives of its people and it will lose its stability, security and safety as well as its prosperity.
Second, to play the card of sectarianism in a country sustained on religion will always lead to ignite a fire of sedition that is difficult to extinguish and that is why it will burn everything and the high price paid by those who inflame it before those intended to be the target of burning.
Third, “Houthism” is the most obvious tumble of the Yemeni political leadership. This leadership remained managing with great capability and cleverness the game of reproducing of parties and sheikhs, the social symbols and notables and commercial powers, dealing a blow to this by using the other. And the attempt of sectarian reproduction was I think the tumble that leadership is the one that is severely regretting.
Fourth, the worst thing that certain people can be afflicted with are a leadership and political parties and social forces experienced in playing the card of political intrigues, and each of them is ready to go with it very far without care for a homeland or interest.
Fifth, the absence of transparency and dealing with disregard with issues n which the political, religious, national And ethnical is intermingled, always lead to disaster and changes them from problems easy to control and direct into crises impregnable to solution and decoding their signs.
Sixth, the attempts to jump over a crisis as this one and to internationalize or regionalize is something that will not serve the country and would not exempt the ruler from his responsibilities for it whatever there were indications or implications of involvement of those parties in feeding it.
Seventh, the mediations and delegations that do not possess decision or authority or do not have a real vision or outlet are futile and will lead only to more insistence and more bloodshed as well as more loss. Consequently there must be thinking about such mediations. It maybe useful here to point out a saying by the Pakistani President Musharaf. During his latest visit to Abu Dhabi he was asked if he could conduct mediation between Syria and Iran and the United States of America, he mentioned that the mediation is need of a strong and effective voice in order to succeed and he said his voice was not strong or effective enough to conduct mediation.
Eighth, unless such issues are eliminated fro their roots and tackling the causes that led to their emergence they will change, as Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Eryany, the political advisor to the president, said that the malignant tumor cannot be cured, but by immediate elimination. Here I will also tell Al-Eryany it will not be but with cauterization.
Source: Al-Bayan Newspaper of the Emirates
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