Abdul-Malik al-Houthi Needs to Reconsider Himself

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Yemen appears to be sliding toward new fractures of division, with all the further suffering and pain this will bring upon the Arab people of Yemen. Ansar Allah enjoys greater military strength, influence, and reach than the other parties, and for this reason it bears the greatest share of responsibility in Yemen. If it gets things right, Yemen gains; if it errs, it loses, and Yemen loses with it. For this reason, Ansar Allah is called upon to reflect and deliberate further, and must keep reviewing its steps together with the other Yemeni factions and currents, so that relations with none of Yemen’s components deteriorate, lest that deterioration spread and bring about what no Arab wishes to see.

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is called upon not to repeat the mistakes made by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Al-Houthi must not rush to reap results, must bring people together rather than divide them, must be just and not despotic, must unite rather than exclude — whether deliberately or through the momentum of events — and must allow for the possibility of error in his decisions. The constitutional declaration al-Houthi announced remains a matter of debate, and it is clear that most Yemeni factions are uneasy about it, and the positions taken for and against it are raising serious fears, as though Yemen stood on the edge of a volcano. President Mohamed Morsi insisted stubbornly on his decree, refusing to back down from it, and stirred the resentment of many Egyptians, and matters afterward ended in what we now see. Yemen already has enough problems and burdens; it does not need more.

Al-Houthi is called upon to put his declaration up for public and party debate, and to be prepared to abandon it, replace it, or amend it. The task of bringing Yemen together is not the responsibility of a single party, but the responsibility of all parties. Every Yemeni party ought to take part in shaping the restoration of stability to Yemen, unless a given party itself chooses not to participate.

I am well aware that we Arabs do not accept backing down from our positions before ourselves or before our own countrymen — we only back down before external powers. This is a test of Mr. al-Houthi’s will: will he overcome himself and this Arab inheritance on this particular point, and recast his project, or concede the imposition of his declaration in favor of debating it? I call on him to ease the sharpness of his position, and to work immediately to bring together all of Yemen’s components so that Yemen may have a future.

It is not in Yemen’s interest to be isolated from the wider world, nor for its various components to grow estranged from one another, and interest dictates that acknowledging error is a virtue, and that the peace of mind of the people of Yemen matters more than any political stance. Easing the insistence on the constitutional declaration is not a weakness but a courage that has seen, in bringing others into the process, a better interest for Yemen.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “مطلوب من عبد الملك الحوثي مراجعة نفسه” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.