Yemeni president names new PM to form govt

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-10-8 10:04:24

The undated portrait photo shows new Yemeni prime minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, director of his office, as the prime minister to form a government, the official Saba news agency reported on Tuesday, two weeks after the Shiite Houthi rebels overran the capital. (Xinhua)


 
Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, director of his office, as the prime minister to form a government, the official Saba news agency reported on Tuesday.

In a presidential decree issued on Tuesday night, Hadi named bin Mubarak as new prime minister after consulting his advisors that represent all political parties in Yemen, Saba reported.

Hadi stressed the need to move forwards the political transition in Yemen in accordance with the peace deal signed by the government and Houthi group and outcomes of the comprehensive national reconciliation dialogue in the framework of the implementation of the Gulf initiative and its mechanism executive that put an end to unrest in 2011.

Bin Mubarak, born in 1968 in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, is a professor with Sanaa University and holds a PhD in business administration.

Last year, bin Mubarak was elected as the secretary general of Yemen's national reconciliation dialogue conference which is comprised of representatives of all political parties and civic groups and was destined to carry out reforms in the unrest-hit country.

The conference, which was launched after a year-long deadly fighting that killed over 2,000 people, was designed to pull the nation out of a potential civil war and seek just solutions for the southern separate forces and northern rebels. It ended in endorsing a new federal political system in the country in January.

On Sept. 21, the government and Shiite Houthi group signed a ceasefire deal in Sanaa, both agreeing to stop fighting in the capital, nominate a prime minister within a week afterwards and form a technocrat government within a month.

However, the Houthi group refused to hand over towns and cities seized in the past weeks and has taken over almost all state institutions in Sanaa since then.

The deal empowers the Houthi rebels as it allows the group to play an important role in forming a cabinet and determining the future control of the army.

The peace agreement put an end to deadly clashes between the rebels and the army supported by Sunni militia. The violence broke out northwest of Sanaa on Tuesday and has left about 400 people killed, including about 50 civilians.

However, the Houthi group released a statement on Tuesday night, rejecting the appointment of bin Mubarak as prime minister.

Local observers said although the ceasefire deal put an end to week-long deadly clashes, it will take the new government a long time to make Houthis adapt to political and peaceful options after their long history of armed conflicts, which bring more uncertainties to political transition after the 2011 revolution toppled the former regime.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi (C) meets with his advisors and representatives of political parties in Sanaa, Yemen, on Oct. 7, 2014. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, director of his office, as the prime minister to form a government, the official Saba news agency reported on Tuesday, two weeks after the Shiite Houthi rebels overran the capital. (Xinhua)


 

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi (C) meets with his advisors and representatives of political parties in Sanaa, Yemen, on Oct. 7, 2014. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi named Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, director of his office, as the prime minister to form a government, the official Saba news agency reported on Tuesday, two weeks after the Shiite Houthi rebels overran the capital. (Xinhua)


 

Posted in: Mid-East

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