A symposium at Taiz University discusses the dangers of Houthi thought to the republican system

The Department of History and Political Science at the Faculty of Arts at Taiz University held a symposium entitled “The Dangers of Houthi Thought to the Republican System” in Al-Thulaia Hall, this Wednesday morning, as part of the awareness and intellectual activities, coinciding with the celebrations of the national holidays of September 26, October 14, and November 30.

Dr. Abdul Qader Al-Khali, Professor of Political Science at Taiz University and supervisor of the symposium, said that the Houthi ideology represents a real threat not only to the political system, but to the entire social fabric, as it seeks to destabilize the pillars of the Yemeni state and undermine the foundations upon which the Yemeni revolution was built on September 26, 1962.

He added that the Houthi ideology is trying to impose intellectual and sectarian hegemony that contradicts the principles of equality, justice and freedom that the Yemeni people have struggled for for decades, pointing out that this ideology is based on the theory of the divine right to rule and seeks to undermine the republican foundations that are based on the principles of equality among citizens and respect for the will of the people through democratic institutions.

The symposium included four working papers presented by students of the Department of History and Political Science. In the first paper, Muhib Al-Athouri discussed the concept of the theory of governance, “the Guardianship of the Jurist,” in Houthi thought, noting that the militia failed to impose this theory after the Yemeni people broke the barrier of isolation and ignorance that the Imamate had been feeding on in the past. He also called for its military overthrow and the constitutional criminalization of its idea, so that it would not be able to return again.

In the second paper, entitled “The Future of the Republic of Yemen in Light of Current Threats,” Mahmoud Al-Maqbouli stressed that what was taken by force can only be restored by force, pointing out that the Houthi militia affiliated with Iran only knows the language of force, does not believe in peace, does not uphold a covenant, and does not see any human race other than its own that has the divine right to rule, sanctify, and respect. He also called for the necessity of strengthening the stability of the local currency, activating the role of local authorities, achieving stability in the temporary capital, Aden, rejecting division, and unifying the republican ranks.

The third paper by Shaza Al-Sarari dealt with the intellectual and cultural resistance in the face of the Imamate in its new guise, where she presented an analysis of the roots of the Imamate and the reasons for its return and the relationship between the ideology of the Imamate and the crisis of national identity, and how the Imamate thought works to tear apart the social and political fabric, reviewing the strategies of recruiting youth and misleading public opinion, and how these strategies can be confronted, and she also stressed the importance of the intellectual battle as one of the most important tools for confronting this extremist ideology.

For his part, Muhannad Al-Gharsani reviewed in the fourth paper the factors and risks of the return of the Imamate in the Houthi project, most notably the differences between the Yemeni political forces, economic weakness, political vacuum, tribal and political alliances identical to the Houthis, and the militia’s attempt to replicate the Iranian experience with the weakness of the international response to resolve the conflict in Yemen.

He pointed out that the dangers of the return of the Imamate to Yemen and the region lie in undermining the republican system by weakening the rule of law, weakening democratic institutions, and dismantling state institutions, in addition to reproducing class distinctions, weakening national identity, abolishing the principle of equality, weakening political and civil forces, and escalating regional interventions.