Republic of Yemen could soon be no more

Since 1990, when it was created out of the merger of independent states in the north and south, Yemen has been a republic. Yet this will end if delegates at reconciliation talks have their way. Hakim Almasmari reports from Sanaa

Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Qirbi says delegates at reconciliation talks have agreed in principle to a federal system. Fayez Nureldine / AFP

SANAA // Delegates at reconciliation talks in Yemen have agreed in principle to move the country from a republic to a federal system.
Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr Al Qirbi, this week said the delegates had agreed to the idea of adopting a federal system in his country of 25 million people.
Yemen has been a republic since 1990, when it was created out of the merger of independent states in the north and south.
But under the new system, political power would devolve to regions, governorates and states, with the central government keeping control over vital portfolios such as defence and the country's currency.
Key details for the move remain to be ironed out as the talks near their scheduled end next week.
The plan, which would be incorporated into a new constitution, could still run aground over the north-south tensions that have afflicted the country for decades.
The centre of contention is the number of states that would make up the federal system.
The proposal by northern delegates for a south divided into at least five states is unacceptable, said a southern representative to the talks.
"Federalism will only be accepted if it results in the south of Yemen being one federal state and not more," the delegate said. Dividing the south further would divide the region "from within".
"This will not be accepted by the southerners in any way," he said.
The government is keen to resolve differences with the end of talks looming.
A panel of 16 members representing Yemen's political factions has been formed to address "southern worries", said Mohammed Abulahoum, a senior official at the talks.
"This committee will decide on all the outstanding topics linked to the southern crisis and work on resolving them once and for all," Mr Abulahoum added.
Tensions between the north and the secessionist south flared into a brief civil war in 1994 that culminated in occupation by northern troops.
In a bid to assuage the friction that has lingered since and to ease the way to a new constitution and system of government, president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi is expected to reinstate 795 southern civil servants, military and police officials to their jobs, a presidential aide said.
They are among the estimated 70,000 government employees southerners say were unfairly fired or sent into early retirement under the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Last month, the Hadi government officially apologised to southerners for wars waged against them by Mr Saleh's government.
It also has authorised a southern recovery fund of about US$1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn), which Mr Hadi has asked the international community to help finance.
"The president knows the magnitude of this case and is trying with everything in his ability to compensate the south for past mistakes," Mr Abulahoum said.
Jamal Benomar, the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, last week coaxed the southern representatives back to the talks after they walked out in frustration and revived their calls for secession.
"Dialogue is the only passage to justly solve the southern issue," said Yaseen Noman, president of the Socialist Party, which ruled the south before unification. "It's either that or conflict and war. We all know that."
The reconciliation talks were convened after the political and social unrest that broke out in early 2011 and led to Mr Saleh being eased from power.
Although the results have so far been limited, experts see them as progress.
"We are talking about factions that were on the verge of killing one another, and now through the dialogue are able to sit month after month seeking peaceful solutions," said Abdul Salam Mohammed, president of the Abaad Research Centre.
The south is not the only major issue in the talks.
The Houthis, a Shiite rebel group based in the northern province of Saada, have formed a political branch and tentatively agreed to end all hostilities and tensions across Yemen's northern region.
They insist on political and economic reform in return.
"We do not want cosmetic changes in Yemen," said Hasan Al Hamran, head of the Houthis' foreign relations office. "We do not want the final resolution to be words on paper, as in the past. We will be seeking results."
In a speech last week, Mr Hadi said it was vital that the reconciliation talks succeeded.
"This major national project must be completed, this rare historic opportunity must not be wasted and the contemporary standards and the requirements of the 21st century must not be neglected," he said.
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