The Iran-backed Houthi militias attempted to lure the son of slain Yemeni former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to side with them by naming him as deputy chief of the Sanaa-based General People’s Congress (GPC).
Ahmed Ali Saleh has not objected to the move.
The Houthis had killed his father in December 2017 shortly after he announced that he was ending his alliance with the militias.
The Sanaa-based GPC met in the Houthi-held capital on Thursday to confirm Sadiq Amin Abou Rass as head of the party and Ahmed Ali as his deputy.
Ahmed Ali’s cousin, Yehya Saleh, who resides in Beirut, was quick to welcome his appointment amid complete silence by loyalists of the slain former president.
After Ali Abdullah’s death, the GPC became split between members trapped in Sanaa and others loyal to their late leader.
The Sanaa meeting also approved a number of appointments, all of which were rejected by the GPC branch, headed by Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, that is loyal to the legitimate government.
Hadi slammed the “farce that can be added to the long list of Houthi farces in Sanaa.”
He noted that the decisions taken at the GPC meeting were made under threat of violence, a method that the Houthis have adopted against the people, political powers and Congress.
Hadi recalled Ali Abdullah’s murder by the Houthis, adding that the liberated Yemeni regions do not recognize the Sanaa meeting.
He added that GPC leaderships in Sanaa are being held hostage by the Houthis, urging the international community and human rights groups to intervene to halt the militias’ violations.
He called on the legitimate GPC to avenge Ali Abdullah’s death.
Information Minister in the legitimate government, Moammar al-Eryani echoed Hadi’s stances, adding that the Sanaa meeting was held under threat of arms by the Houthis.
He deemed the meeting a “betrayal of the GPC’s heritage, values, national charter, revolutionary principles and the blood of the historic leadership and will of its late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”
“His life ended with a call to rise up against the militias, not hand the GPC over to them to wipe their slates clean,” he added.
Observers said that the legitimate GPC was at a crossroads where it is obligated to regroup its members and thwart Houthi attempts to transform the party into its political arm.
Since Ali Abdullah’s assassination, GPC leaderships living abroad have failed in unifying their ranks and bringing in Ahmed Ali to their side.
Many of these leaderships told Asharq Al-Awsat that opportunities were still available to thwart the Houthi plot to take over the late ex-president’s political legacy.
