The Prophet’s Birthday: Conflicts within the militia wings and popular disregard for its celebrations (Special Report)

For more than a month and a half, the Houthi militia has been mobilizing the state agencies under its control in Sana’a and the governorates to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad on the twelfth of Rabi’ al-Awwal. It has not excluded schools, universities, and institutes from this, to revive this event, which it considers an annual opportunity for political display only, exploiting the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and everyone’s love for him.

This year was not an exception in terms of interest in this anniversary, as it began doing so since its control of the capital, Sana’a, on September 21, 2014. However, since the announcement of the truce in April 2022, the militia has bared its fangs and devoted itself largely to mobilizing and mobilizing society under various names, including this occasion.

But what is new this year is the Houthi militia’s mobilization to deliver political messages to society through these celebrations that it holds at the level of neighborhoods, clubs, schools, universities, ministries, and various bodies and institutions, to remind people of its alleged role in supporting Al-Aqsa and Palestine and its battles in the Red Sea, in light of the lack of significant community interaction on this occasion.

lackluster reaction

Some may be surprised when it is said that the interaction with this anniversary is not at the required level that the militia had hoped for, especially with the spread of video clips and photos that show Sana’a as if it had become a green piece in response to the Houthi call, but the exact opposite is certain, according to special sources, that these photos are from previous years, and not from this year, and if they exist, they are only in specific areas, specifically in the offices of all ministries, institutions and bodies.

Sources confirm to "Yemeni Youth Net" that this year was not up to the required level, despite the militia's attempt to mobilize everyone to celebrate this anniversary, which has turned into repeated events, aiming to deliver political messages confirming the group's ability to mobilize and rally society around it, but the reality is very different from what the media portrays.

Sources indicate that the green decorations that the militia is keen to decorate the capital with on this anniversary were not up to the required level, despite its mobilization of everyone, including owners of private generators, to decorate the streets and neighborhoods. However, these calls were met with great disregard, as a result of disagreements between the Ministry of Electricity and merchants, according to a source in the Chamber of Commerce.

Internal divisions

In addition to the above, the normal interaction for this occasion was the result of the complex internal circumstances in which the militia found itself; as a result of the promises made by the Houthi leader last year to begin what he described as “radical changes,” and the dismissal of his government in Sana’a, and the delay in announcing a new government for more than ten months due to disagreements between the militia and the General People’s Congress Party loyal to them in Sana’a, not to mention internal disagreements between the wings of the militia itself.

With the approach of the anniversary of the birth, and in order not to break the image of the Houthi leader, to whom the militia is trying to add an aura and sanctity, the militia raced against time to announce the government near this event, which was announced after a difficult labor, resulting in the announcement of a government that was met with great ridicule and disapproval by a number of those interested in public affairs in Sana'a.

According to special sources for "Yemeni Youth Net", the members of the new government in Sana'a were chosen after the candidates were subjected to a closed training course that lasted about a month, and they were given specific guidelines to implement, which they called the government program, which was set to serve the group's interests and expand its influence, without considering the reality of society, which is suffering from a state of clinical death as a result of the unprecedentedly deteriorating economic situation.

Considering the program of the militia government, which they called the government of construction and change, it completely ignored the issue of paying salaries, and linked their payment to the issue of the political solution, in addition to its focus on increasing taxes, and making the legal amendments that it seeks to implement, as it formed various committees about a year ago to begin preparing the drafting of the decisions that need to be amended to serve its projects, and it began discussing the amendment of the draft law of the judiciary last Tuesday, and the rest will follow, according to the sources.

Wings disputes and conflicts

Other sources attribute the lack of significant interaction this year with the Prophet’s birthday to the militia’s intention to make broad changes in state agencies, which were scheduled to be announced in the third phase, after the ministers and their deputies, as the third phase included the governors.

The sources explained to "Yemeni Youth Net" that the Houthi militia, after appointing the members of the government, entered into disputes with several wings, including the General People's Congress Party loyal to them in Sana'a, so they worked to share influence among those wings, by appointing deputy ministers, although there were no deputy ministers, only undersecretaries.

According to the sources, the militia leaked the names of the deputy ministers on social media to find out the extent of the reactions to them. The deputy ministers began to carry out their duties in the ministries before the decision was officially announced in their affiliated Saba Agency. A few days later, the decision was officially issued and they began to carry out their duties officially.

The sources indicated that after appointing the deputy ministers, the militia leaked the names of the new governors. The governors considered these leaks to be correct, after the previous leaks by the deputy ministers were correct. This prompted them to be negligent and not interact with the anniversary of the birth, as the sources confirm that the changes will definitely take place after the birth event, which widened the circle of disagreements.

Sources confirm that the militia was forced to freeze the decision to change the governors and postpone it until after the Mawlid, so that this event would not fail, because its failure would mean a political defeat no less than a military defeat. Therefore, it worked to give promises to the governors that these decisions were invalid, and linked their remaining in their positions to the extent of their interaction with the Mawlid crowd, as a kind of enticement for them so that they would not fail the event, as it believes.

Finally, the Houthi militia mobilized the society that suffers from poverty and hunger, to celebrate the Mawlid event, allocating billions of riyals, ignoring the suffering of the citizens, specifically the employees who groan under the burden of oppression and deprivation, sleeping on hunger and covering themselves with suffering, their state of mind while they are in the crowd hall, overwhelmed by their situation, as the poet said:

We eat hunger and quench thirst
We call for God to protect the Imam