Yemeni politicians meet in Potsdam to discuss political transition

The meeting in Germany agreed a list of recommendations for political reconciliation in Yemen to move forward.

3 min read

11 December, 2014

The meeting called for checkpoints established by non-state actors to be removed [Getty]

A meeting between representatives of Yemeni political parties and civil society organisations concluded in the German city of Potsdam on Wednesday, issuing ten recommendations for the transition process in Yemen.

The three-day meeting was organised by the Yemeni Political Development Forum, run by prominent politician Ali Seif Hassan, and the Berghof Foundation. It was sponsored by the German foreign ministry, and was the third such conference on Yemen to be held outside of the country in the past two months - and the first to be held without representation from the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis.

The meeting was attended by Abdul Wahab al-Ansi from the al-Islah party, Arif al-Zouka from the General People's Congress party, Abdullah Noman from the Nasserist party, and Hassan Zeid from the al-Haq party.

Also attending were Saleh al-Samad, the chief of the Houthis' political bureau and former Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, representing the Southern Movement.

Sources told al-Araby al-Jadeed Attas withdrew from the meeting because he wanted to discuss the secession of the south, which the attendees refused to include on the agenda.

Recommendations

The concluding statement included the following recommendations:

That the tasks and powers of presidential advisers be determined in accord with article two of the Peace and National Partnership Agreement. In a similar vein, it recommended that the Shura Council be expanded to further a national consensus in accordance with the outputs of the National Dialogue conference.

That the Supreme Commission for Elections prepare a new electronic record of voters and set out a specific timetable for holding constitutional elections.

Attas withdrew from the meeting because he wanted to discuss the secession of the South.

That the economic committee be expanded to include representatives from the financial and business sectors and representatives of political parties.

That a committee be formed to monitor and oversee the interpretation and implementation of the Peace and National Partnership Agreement.

That dialogue opens to accommodate the points of view of political parties that did not participate in the National Dialogue Conference, for instance on issues specifically related to the South.

That the country be demilitarised and armed checkpoints in the hands of non-state actors in the capital Sanaa and all other governorates be removed.

That the media end all forms of incitement and sectarian discourse by any party and work toward establishing tolerance.

That the representation of the South, women and youth recommended by the National Dialogue conference and its technical preparatory committee (50, 30 and 20 percent respectively) be respected.

That the roles of regional and international powers supporting Yemen be recognised, but separated from any decisions or punitive measures that do not serve the political settlement in Yemen.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.