Yemen's south calls for UN-sponsored self-determination referendum

The Southern bloc in Yemen’s parliament yesterday called on the UN Security Council and the Gulf Cooperation Council to enable the people of the south to exercise self-determination through an UN-supervised referendum.

Since the resignation of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on Thursday, the south’s factions and political forces have held talks in Aden with the aim of unifying their efforts in preparation for declaring the region’s secession.

The deep crisis that has swept the north of Yemen, as a result of Houthis’ incursion into the country’s capital Sanaa and other areas has narrowed the gap between the factions of the south, which had previously been divided over their region’s fate.

The south’s radical camp has found itself aligned with the other southern factions that had supported the central government in the context of a federation of six provinces.

Through the intensive talks held in Aden, the south’s factions are capitalising on the chaos sweeping the north by seeking to settle the divisions between the proponents of autonomy and complete independence on the one hand and those who support returning to the 1900 pre-unification southern state.