Yemen’s ruling party and rebels decry new government

Both Yemen’s ruling party and its rebels have dismissed a U.N.-brokered deal to introduce a new government, one day after the plan was tabled. The declaration by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) party and the rebel group known as Houthis comes a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Saleh and two rebel leaders for threatening the peace, security and stability of the country. The council ordered a freeze of all assets and a global travel ban on Saleh, the rebel group’s military commander, Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi, and the Houthi’s second-in-command, Abdullah Yahya al Hakim.

Yemen is seeing a kind of unravelling and violent struggles in a way that is unprecedented.

Abdelbari Taher, a Yemeni historian and political commentator

President Abd-Rabu Mansour Hadi presided over the swearing in of Yemen’s new government, which was followed by a meeting of his new Cabinet. The GPC said it was not consulted in forming the long-awaited cabinet and urged party nominees to turn down their assigned ministries. Houthi rebels also rejected the newly formed cabinet, demanding instead a reshuffle to dismiss members they consider unqualified or corrupt. Saleh is seen as the main backer of the Houthi rebels who seized Sana’a in September unopposed, and have since expanded their control to coastal areas and regions south of Sana’a. Some army troops that remain loyal to Saleh are accused of aiding the rebels.

Middle East Yemen