While the Saudi-backed government-in-exile for Yemen continues to present the STC separatists as a group that has disbanded and tries to focus on styling themselves as a legitimate government, rallies for the STC continue to grow across the south, hitting more and more cities calling for a restoration of South Yemen as an independent state.
Massive rallies have been a regular feature in the city of Aden, the former capital of the south. But they’re hitting more cities and towns lately, with a violent crackdown on STC protesters last week in Ataq, and this weekend thousands out in force in the Abyan Governorate capital of Zinjibar.
The consistent message in these rallies has been a support for the STC in general, and the Zinjibar demonstration was unique in that they were calling for the immediate implementation of the constitutional declaration advocated by STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi to immediate divide Yemen back along the pre-1990 lines.
Pro-STC protesters rally in Zinjibar | Image from X
Rally-goers in Zinjibar issued a statement declaring that the will of the people of southern Yemen cannot simply be ignored. They also called on the international community to document the growing violence against pro-separatist groups in Yemen.
While the demonstrations in favor of South Yemen are understandably centered within South Yemen, members of the Yemeni diaspora were also rallying in New York City this weekend, expressing support for the south while the UN Security Council was having a meeting on the future of Yemen.
The Riyadh-based government-in-exile focused their efforts on talking about Saudi-coordinated recovery efforts for the territory in the southern part of Yemen, which they view as at least nominally under their control, even though they have no plans to try to relocate into Yemen itself to govern.
The chairman of this government called for Yemen to be integrated into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), arguing that accessing into this body could only come by way of Saudi Arabia, which is the most significant thing the government stands to offer.
