International inaction allowed Houthis to take control of Yemen

What Arabic writers say about developments in Sanaa. Translated by Racha Makarem

It didn’t take the Houthis long to finally take over government in Yemen. Months before last week’s move, they had been infiltrating every aspect of government. But it was all cloaked by regional and international silence.

In an opinion article in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, the columnist Abdullah Nasser Al Otaibi said: “Everyone kept silent. Everybody stood back while the Houthis were advancing and taking over power under the pretext of rescuing the country from the consequences of being in a political vacuum.”

The regional and international position regarding the recent coup in Yemen crystallised too late, the writer added.

“Alas, the Houthis’ occupation of northern towns wasn’t seen as a coup by Arab political entities and the international community,” he said.

“Sanaa’s occupation and control of its key security and administrative positions wasn’t seen as a coup, nor was the pressure exerted (by the Houthis) on the Yemeni government.”

Now that the coup is a fait accompli, the only thing that the Arab states and the world can do is to agree on some sort of reaction.

As expected, the writer said, someone has had the ingenious idea of imposing political and economic sanctions to persuade the Houthis to yield.

“In the Yemeni case, sanctions could be interpreted in two ways: firstly, they denote an explicit acknowledgement of the Houthis’ power. Economic and political sanctions legitimise the coup by suggesting it is an entity with a valid point of view, which needs to submit to the policies of the international community,” Al Otaibi noted.

“Secondly, what kind of outcome could be expected from sanctions in a quasi-failed state and a ruling system that is itself run by another country?”

Yemen’s economy has floundered during the past few months while the Houthis have thrived on unrelenting Iranian support.

George Samaan, also writing in Al Hayat, said the coup was the natural outcome as the world’s position on the developments in Yemen were not strong enough and at the very least, came too late.

“Yemeni Islamic, socialist, Nasserist and liberal parties and powers were able to prevent chaos and civil and tribal strife at the time of the uprising in February 2011,” he explained.

“However, this strange patchwork of powers didn’t seek to bring about much needed change and reform, but focused on recreating a system to distribute power.”

Soon, this led to an open-ended struggle between the political, tribal and military powers, which had, for 30 years, been dividing everything up among themselves. Even after the departure from power of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, they remained in control, making it easy for him to sabotage the national dialogue and facilitate the Houthis’ coup.

“Condemnation is useless now. Those who await a decisive position from the international community will have to wait a long time,” he said.

Russia isn’t about to trouble Tehran by rejecting the change that has occurred in Sanaa. The US is looking to avoid any steps that could compromise its nuclear talks with Iran, so it hasn’t taken any decisive action either to contain the Houthis and stop Iran’s expansion into Yemen. For Iran, the takeover in Yemen is a new card to play in its nuclear negotiations with the P5 and Germany. And it also gives it an advantage in any confrontation with Saudi Arabia.

“Yemen has become a part of Iran’s political and security map in the region. Changing this new reality would require a lot of fighting and bloodshed,” the writer concluded.

Translated by Racha Makarem