Yemen Govt: Separatists Not Meeting Commitments in Power-Sharing Deal

Tensions have continued since 2019 deal

The Yemeni government has issued a new statement on their power-sharing deal with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the major separatist movement. They accuse the STC of having reneged on the 2019 power-sharing deal meant to end fighting in the south.

Saudi Arabia brokered the deal after the UAE-backed separatists seized much of South Yemen. The government complains that they never returned that territory to government control.

The process was a lot more complex than anyone expected. In practice, the government reneged on the power-sharing deal almost immediately, and the Saudis have had to intervene several times to try to save the process. The government’s leadership complained it wasn’t fair to have to give up actual positions of power to un-elected separatists.

The new complaints are really not new problems, but rather a reiteration of the state of the deal. The Saudis have been pressuring the government to return more officials to Aden in recent weeks, and that’s likely part of this, a chance to shift the blame to the STC.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.