Reports of Deal as Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Call for Orderly Transfer of Power

January 28th, 2015

David Schulberg

Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the leader of the power Shi’ite Houthi rebels that control the Yemeni capital city, today called for an orderly transfer of power after the resignation of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The signs are that there may be some progress in that direction now, with the non-stop behind-the-scenes meetings between various parliamentary factions producing at least an agreement in principle on a salvation government.

Details of the power-sharing that will take place in this new government are still to be hammered out, and disagreements about reforms in the distribution of power were similarly what drove Hadi out of office.

Yet the Houthis don’t seem to have any particular designs on propping themselves up as a direct government. Rather, they seem interested in ensuring that their political allies are given some comparative advantages in the new draft constitution.