What will President Rashad Al-Alimi offer to Taiz during his upcoming visit?

The Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, is expected to arrive in Taiz in the coming days, on his first visit to the governorate (southwest of Yemen) since assuming power in April 2022. It is the first visit by the highest official in the state since the Houthi militia coup and the outbreak of the war.

While the date of the expected visit has not been officially announced, the local authority in Taiz has begun making arrangements for the past few days, which include strict security measures, removing waste, renovating some streets, removing speed bumps, as well as raising welcoming pictures of President Al-Alimi and the national flag on the governorate building, government headquarters and institutions, and on billboards on the main streets.

The joint security campaign in Taiz also began implementing the decision to ban the use of random weapons inside the city starting yesterday morning, Sunday, warning that any unlicensed weapon or weapon outside of official duties will be seized, confiscated and destroyed, and that it will deal firmly and strictly and in accordance with the law with anyone who violates this announcement.

What is the importance of the visit?

The visit of the Chairman of the Leadership Council comes amid a complex situation after ten years of war and siege in the city of Taiz, which has led the confrontation with the Houthi militia and fought across the national map in defense of the state and the republican system, and is still fighting and making sacrifices to this day. In contrast, Taiz suffers from the neglect of the legitimate government at all levels, especially with regard to public services and the lack of support for the national army and security services.

Ramez Al-Sharhi, Vice President of the Preparatory Committee for the Youth Conference in Taiz, believes that the visit represents a real opportunity for the President and members of the Leadership Council to regain the initiative and create a good model as a symbol of the state in Taiz, given that this governorate represents a difficult number in the national battle and confronting the threats resulting from the resurgence of the corpse of history represented by the Imamate, and in a more dangerous way than in the past as a result of the Iranian presence, pointing out that the Republic as a system is not the only one facing the threat, but the entire nation.

Al-Sharhi told “Yemeni Youth Net” that Taiz played a pivotal role in the historical events before the September and October revolutions in the past and was the main base from which the revolution was launched. Cultural and youth clubs were established to play a prominent role that was evident in mobilizing young volunteers and students to join the ranks of the popular resistance, which was able, along with elements of the paratroopers and commando forces, to lift the siege on Al-Sab’een and defeat the royalist army (...).

He added, "Today, the vibrant youth and popular movement in the governorate is a bright spot that can be built upon, if only there is political will to activate and absorb energies, as a first step towards crystallizing a real national project. Today, we are in a crisis, and the right choice is to address the people and create appropriate mechanisms to enable them to create their own salvation, change the equations in reality, and open new horizons."

He continued: "I believe that the Chairman of the Leadership Council realizes the importance of restoring popular momentum and establishing new foundations on which the national battle can be based. The situation is complex, as we mentioned earlier, but with the right will and directions, and above all, alleviating the suffering of the people, all of this will contribute to getting out of the current impasse."

In this context, the head of the media department of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform Party in Taiz, Ahmed Othman, believes that President Al-Alimi's visit to Taiz comes at a sensitive and important time due to the circumstances that the country and Taiz in particular are going through, where goals, motives, projects, fears, dreams, challenges and opportunities intertwine internally and externally.

Othman said on his Facebook page, "Taiz stands in the heart of all these interferences, hurricanes, challenges and opportunities and has what it can do for the benefit of the national project and the victory of the republic by virtue of its historical relations with the republican identity, the revolutionary spirit and the national culture that represents all of Yemen even when it is viewed as a (separate sector)."

He added, "National responsibility urges all components in the republican ranks to take more action, be more vigilant, unify the goal and the means, and rally behind the legitimate leadership, as the goal remains to restore the state, and the means is to strengthen the republican ranks and strengthen and unify all the levers of the national republican project. This necessarily happens through a single leadership and exceptional rallying behind this leadership."

The reformist leader said, "The time has come to begin a new phase in which the Leadership Council seizes the historic moment with a unified and effective field step that strengthens the state and unifies its decision in a way that achieves a qualitative historical leap in the size of the homeland and dreams and in the amount of sacrifices and martyrs."

He added: "A leap from inside and outside the box that suits the challenges, creates opportunities, overcomes all obstacles, and dissolves all inhibitors. All of this is easy and feasible and is linked to the decision and will of the Presidential Leadership Council as a historical leadership in the most difficult and dangerous phase that Yemen has gone through throughout history. The greatness of the achievement is proportionate to the challenges, before time surpasses them and us."

What will Al-Alimi offer to Taiz?

For his part, Al-Sharhi warns that repeating mistakes and adopting a narrow perspective without paying attention to social and economic issues and policies will have dire consequences. He told Yemen Youth Net, “After ten years of suffering, the people of Taiz need to see the results of their sacrifices in reality, in the form of services and trends that indicate that the future will be better.”

Regarding Taiz's demands, the political source who spoke to "Yemeni Youth Net" confirmed that they are many, especially in the development and service aspects, but Taiz realizes that it is going through an exceptional situation and war conditions, and therefore its priorities are being adjusted in light of these circumstances, so that the demand to support the army, not for steadfastness but for liberation, is the first demand, in addition to supporting the security aspect.

He pointed out that in light of this, the rest of the other service, health and educational demands that Taiz suffers from stand and are satisfied with the reasonable limit in the hope of achieving liberation and restoring the state, so that Taiz finds itself in the general national sphere and the spirit of the republican system.

Political analyst Abdul-Alam Bajash believes that Taiz does not necessarily expect anything from anyone, even if it is the legitimate leadership. When the question is posed as what does Taiz expect from President Al-Alimi, the constitutional duties and legal responsibilities of the official or guest official in the current situation turn into something like a gift or a favor, which contradicts the basic rule that everyone who assumes public authority has duties.

Bajash told "Yemeni Youth Net" that authority includes responsibility, and therefore Taiz does not expect anything from the president other than to carry out his work and duties, and to secure what is necessary for the army and security forces and employees, and to work on activating the monitoring system over the performance of the local authority to ensure the improvement of its service performance and in other aspects.

He explained that any moves by the legitimate leadership represented by the Presidential Council and its president are a positive step in a period marked by a grave strategic mistake by Saudi Arabia and the leader of the coalition that began in the first year of the war when Riyadh went to create a government in exile, until the visits of legitimate officials to the interior were celebrated as occasions with a character of hospitality and a guest coming from abroad or from abroad, while the visit does not exceed part of responsibilities and duties.

He continued: "Regardless of whether we agree or disagree with President Al-Alimi, it is fair to say that many of the differences and tensions within the ranks of legitimacy and the republican ranks have calmed down under his hand, and they had reached their peak before that by reaching a state of fighting that exacerbated the weakness and division of legitimacy. The internal situation has improved somewhat, and the goal remains the necessity of activating strong cards in the possession of the legitimate Yemeni state, which Al-Alimi is heading."

The political analyst Bajash concluded his speech by saying, "Taiz wants Al-Alimi to work on strengthening internal cohesion between the components of the legitimate leadership and to force the local authorities to improve the quality of their services to make Aden, Taiz and the liberated areas a model in security and development, even at the minimum level, and to remain militarily fully prepared."