Below, Al Jazeera looks at some of the key features of the deal. With the formation of the power-sharing government, the STC gained political recognition without fulfilling its military and security obligations or abandoning its stated goals, including secession. The new government also offers the STC a way to participate in THE UN-sponsored peace talks between the government and the Houthis. In contrast, it is still unclear how the deal will benefit President Hadi`s regime, as the RA has not improved its ability to generate revenue, provide services, maintain order, and govern without obstacles. As it stands, the STC shares governance, the Yemeni executive has been restructured, the Saudis have increased their influence and influence, and the coalition has sidelined several officials opposed to Saudi and Emirati ambitions in the southern and eastern governorates. As such, the new government appears to reconcile a range of local and regional interests. Ahmed Nagi, a non-resident scientist at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the Riyadh deal was intended to “represent the interests of coalition members by appointing their deputies.” The stalled peace deal was signed last year between the Yemeni government and separatists in the southern Saudi capital. Iran, which supports the Houthis, could also see an opportunity to fine-tune its own credentials for peacemaking. Anything that brings the belligerents to the table will be welcomed by an exhausted people on the brink of starvation in this endless war. Despite initial optimism after the signing of the Riyadh Agreement in December 2019 and again after the signing of the Implementation Mechanism, key provisions of the Agreement remain unfulfilled. Implementation should be gradual, starting with the end of media wars, then with the cessation of real fighting on the ground and finally with the political merger into a unity government. Militarily, the STC troops were to be placed under the Ministry of Defense of the Hadi government, and the Stc and Hadi forces had to leave Aden – a strange arrangement, since Hadi`s troops were not in Aden, but made their way from the neighboring abyan governorate to Aden.
These opposing groups remain involved in occasional battles on the city limits of Abyan and Aden. Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed was due to return to his offices in Aden within a week of signing, and a new cabinet was formed within 30 days. There has been no progress in facilitating the travel of Hadi`s ministers to Aden or in forming a unity government. Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Deputy Defense Minister, said that “Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman`s efforts” to implement the Riyadh agreement “and achieve lasting peace, security and prosperity for Yemen.” He made no mention of the fighting between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis. Saudi Arabia has proposed a peace deal to end Yemen`s nearly six-year war if Iranian-backed Houthi rebels agree. On the 18th. In December, Yemeni President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced the creation of a new cabinet as part of his efforts to implement the political annex of the Riyadh Agreement (RA) signed on November 5, 2019 between the Government of the Republic of Yemen (ROYG) and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), supported by the United Arab Emirates. The agreement contained several political, security and economic provisions such as: the formation of a new government, including the STC; disarmament and integration of militias and military formations under the auspices of the Ministries of Defence and the Interior; supporting the Yemeni economy; and the demilitarization of Aden.
Saudi Arabia has proposed a new peace plan to end Yemen`s nearly six-year war. Many previous peace plans for Yemen have failed, including last year`s Saudi ceasefire. But the kingdom is now offering some concessions that the Houthis have long demanded, including the opening of Sana`a International Airport, which is currently under Houthi control, despite the Saudi-led coalition that controls the airspace. The agreement provides for the formation of a new technocratic government with no more than 24 ministers. Ibrahim Jalal is a Yemeni security, conflict and defence researcher based in the UK and co-founder of the Security Distillery Think Tank. His research interests include the UN-led peace process in Yemen, the U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Yemen, and the rise of the Houthi insurgency. The views expressed in this article are his own. Although the formation of the power-sharing government comes more than a year after the one-month timetable proposed in the agreement, the international community saw the move as an important breakthrough. The formation of a government is a positive development amid several factors that have slowed tangible progress: years of disagreement over the order in which the provisions of the AR are implemented; the st. sasc`s reluctance to implement military and security measures; the exchange of hostile rhetoric on social media; the resumption of sporadic exchanges of fire in Abyan governorate; and the expansion of the rebellion in Socotra against the ROYG (with the tacit consent of Saudi Arabia).
If the Riyadh deal itself didn`t articulate it so frankly, U.S. statements of support – at least in official and conservative circles – were bubbling with optimism that the deal would strengthen the anti-Houthi side of the war. In a statement praising the Riyadh deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “This is a way to strengthen the alliance against the Houthis. The Wall Street Journal reiterated this official position, explaining in an editorial essentially the same sentiment: “This is important because it puts the United States and its allies in the Gulf in a better position to deal with the Houthis, the Iranian-backed group… The fact that this optimism has not yet been confirmed by positive results on the ground has not worried the Trump administration enough to put its diplomatic clout behind efforts for a comprehensive peace. Yemeni government spokesman Rajih Badi welcomed the Saudi initiative and expressed hope that the separatists would keep their promise to implement the agreement “out of necessary and urgent national interest.” Forces advancing towards Aden, Abyan and Shabwa, the site of deadly clashes between government forces and the STC, are expected to resume their original positions under the agreement. The stalemate between their respective Yemeni allies has often escalated into violent unrest that threatens to crush the Saudi-led coalition and complicate broader peace efforts to end the five-year civil war that has killed more than 112,000 people and triggered the world`s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Last year, reports surfaced on a back channel of the US State Department to the Houthis to investigate in order to find a solution to the conflict in Yemen. A visit by David Hale to Riyadh the same year was aimed at boosting peace talks, with the message to Riyadh and President Hadi that the conflict must have a peaceful end. .