Houthis, in less than a week, managed to threaten the General People’s Congress (GPC) into rejoining the coup’s shadow public institutions after the latter had frozen its membership.
GPC leadership had taken a decision last week to suspend its participation in the Houthi-run institutions in protest of militias deciding to release five suspects involved in the bombing of the Presidential House Mosque in 2011. Fourteen were killed and another 200 injured in that attack.
Headed by Sadiq Amin Aburass, GPC leadership had held a meeting in Sanaa on the latest developments in Yemen.
According to the party’s website, Aburass discussed calls and meetings held with Houthis, particularly with Houthi head of political council Mahdi al-Mashat.
GPC sources, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, said that party leaders received clear threats to walk away from the suspension and rejoin Houthis in governing militia-held territory.
According to the sources, Aburass received a violent call from Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi.
Houthis, since the decision on freezing GPC participation, worked to subvert party leaders, successfully dragging four ministers and 14 parliamentarians back into their shadow government.
GPC ministry staffers and governors also were brought back to work in Houthi-run areas.
Activists say that Houthis pressured GPC officials back into governing because local institutions run by the group would have collapsed upon their leave.
The Houthi group had released the five accused of bombing the Presidential House Mosque along with five other detainees in exchange for the release of 14 prisoners related to their leader held by the internationally-recognized government in al-Jawf province.
It is worth noting that most of the party's headquarters, property, media, and bank accounts are still controlled by Houthi militias in Sanaa and other provinces.
