Saleh fails to convince Houthis to form government

Deposed Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s efforts to convince the Houthis to form a joint government have failed due to the group’s commitment to the “constitutional declaration” and its rejection of any concessions in this regard.

Saleh’s Yemen TV said that “a meeting between the General People’s Congress and the Houthis at the Presidential Palace in Sana’a regarding the formation of a national government under the leadership of both parties will lead to the cancellation of the Houthis’ constitutional declaration and the Revolutionary Committee.”

The response to the proposal was made by Mohammed Al-Houthi, president of the Revolutionary Committee, who posted on Facebook: “This would never happen, except in a dream.”

A source close to the Houthis said yesterday that the two rounds of talks between the two sides, which took place a few days ago, failed to reach a settlement regarding the formation of a joint government between the General People’s Congress, led by Saleh, the Houthis and other small political parties.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Arabi21 that Saleh set the condition for the Houthis to make concessions and cancel the constitutional declaration that dissolved the parliament, the majority of which is represented by Saleh’s party, and mandated the Revolutionary Committee to manage the country’s affairs since February 2015.