Yemen's legitimate government and the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC) have faced disputes over the distribution of ministerial offices to form a new government, a government source told Sputnik
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2020) Yemen's legitimate government and the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC) have faced disputes over the distribution of ministerial offices to form a new government, a government source told Sputnik.
On November 5, 2019, the government led by President Abdrabbuh President Hadi and separatists operating in southern Yemen signed a peace deal in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh to put an end to military confrontation. Under the agreement, the parties to the conflict should form a joint government that will comprise 24 ministers, equally representing the country's northern and southern provinces. Apart from other things, the STC should return military facilities and state institutions seized in southern Yemen to the legitimate authorities.
The president's office is committed to granting the STC four ministerial portfolios and allocating eight cabinet offices to other representatives of southern Yemeni provinces, the source said. However, the secessionists demand its government share be eight portfolios and that four others be distributed among the rest of Yemen's south officials.
According to the source, the Yemeni authorities have refused an STC request to nominate its representative for the position of Interior Minister in the future government, but agreed that the council's official would assume the post of Aden's governor, provided that possible candidacies would be named to the president for selection.
The Yemeni government also calls upon the STC to reverse its decision to introduce self-governance in some southern provinces of the country.
The STC was formed back in May 2017 under the leadership of former Aden's governor, Aidarus Zoubaidi, who, as of now, is the only president of the council in its history.
Two months after the power-sharing agreement was reached in November 2019, the STC pulled out of it and announced in late April self-rule in parts of the country's south, declaring a state of emergency there and tasking its armed and security forces with enforcement. Nevertheless, several southern provinces refused to support the council's decision.
The deal also stipulated that the parties should enhance the government's role in both political and economic sectors, reorganize the military and security forces and unite efforts under the Saudi-led coalition's leadership to restore Yemen's security and stability.
On June 22, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, said that the country's government and the STC had agreed to a ceasefire and committed to implementing the November peace agreement.
Despite the treaty, confrontations between the two sides persist.
