Yemeni women’s movement has expressed discontent at the new coalition-backed government that was formed between the Hadi puppet government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Tawakkol Karman, an activist affiliated with the Islah Party, described the new government as the “secretariat of the Saudi ambassador”, Mohammed Al Jaber.
“The Saudi ambassador has just finished announcing the formation of his secretariat, which will help him to complete the Saudi plans.” she said.
سأعلق على تشكيل الحكومة بعبارة واحدة: للتو فرغ السفير السعودي من الإعلان عن تشكيل سكرتاريته، التي ستعينه على إكمال مخطط السعودية، في العبث باليمن والوصاية والهيمنة عليها، وتقسيمها إلى أوصال
— Tawakkol Karman (@TawakkolKarman) December 18, 2020
Meanwhile, writer and political activist Aolfat al-Dubai said in a tweet that the government formation is a coup d’état against the outcome of the national dialogue.
نعم تشكيل الحكومة الحالية بلا نساء هو التفاف صريح على مخرجات الحوار الوطني من قبل رئيس مؤتمر الحوار وأمينه العام ….شاركوا التوصيت على الاستبيان . https://t.co/sheDw6MmmS
— الفت الدبعي (@aolfat2020) December 19, 2020
She pointed out that resisting this coup is a” national duty in order to win the gains of change from 2011,” as she described it.
Activist Yasameen Al-Nadheri said the new formation of Hadi’s fourth government is a coup d’etat on the outcome of the national dialogue.
بالتشكيل الحالي للحكومة اليمنية بإمكاننا القول انه تم نهب حق المرأة اليمنية في المشاركة في هذة الحكومة خروجاً على مخرجات الحوار الوطني والمكتسبات التي حصلت عليها المرأة طوال السنيين الماضية #لا_مشروعية_لحكومة_دون_نساء #اليمن pic.twitter.com/ban7fpHIc6
— Yasameen Al-Nadheri ياسمين الناظري (@YNadheri) December 18, 2020
For her part, human rights activist Afra Hariri said the formation of a government without the presence of any women violates the international convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.
She explained that the absence of any female component in the new government undermines UN Security Council Resolution 1325 for women, and other resolutions attached to it, in addition to being contrary to the internal regulations of parties and political components,
She stressed that a case will be brought to the Attorney General, and if he rejects it, the case will be brought before the Arab League or even to the UN Security Council.
The women’s movement also called for a full-scale women’s strike on Sunday to protest against the exclusion of women from Hadi’s government line-up.
A statement issued by Yemeni women’s coalitions said that the exclusion of women from participating in the “Hadi government” is a clear violation of the outcome of the national dialogue, which promised women a percentage of
30% in the government.
The statement blamed Hadi, his prime minister Moeen Abdel Malik, and other party leaders for the marginalisation of women, which represents an unprecedented setback in women’s civil rights.
Women’s rights leaders have also launched a campaign on social media under the hashtag “There is no legitimacy for a government without women” in order to pressure Hadi to modify the government formation and include a female element in it.
