Yemen names new PM in fresh bid to end crisis

Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi named a top diplomat his new premier Monday in his second bid this month to solve a political crisis with Shiite rebels that sparked deadly unrest.

The Houthis, a powerful Shiite group, agreed to the appointment of Khaled Bahah, Yemen's former envoy to the UN, who is tasked with drawing up a new government, the latest effort to appease the rebel group who have overrun the capital and threatened to topple the government.

Last week the Houthis rejected President Hadi’s nomination of another candidate, Ahmed Bin Mubarak, claiming his choice had been “dictated by Washington” and forcing Mubarak to turn down the post.

“We congratulate Mr. Khalid Bahah and wish him success in his new task.” Ali Naser Al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi representative said on his Facebook page.

The nomination of a "neutral Prime Minister" is part of a ceasefire agreement meant to end three weeks of demonstrations and clashes between thousands of Houthi protesters, some heavily armed, and fighters loyal to Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood.

The UN-sponsored ceasefire deal also provides for the withdrawal of the Houthis from Sanaa once the premier has been named.

The rebels, known as Huthis from the name of their leading family, stormed into Sanaa in a lightning offensive on September 21 and proceeded to establish a strong military presence, mounting patrols and manning checkpoints.

A man of principle

Yemenis are hoping that Bahah, a former minister of oil and ministries, who backed protests that toppled President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012, will be able to heal some of Yemen’s many political fractures including a southern separatist movement and a violent al-Qaeda insurgency.

“I think he is a good candidate.. So far he has a clean political profile and has been pro- reform. My fear is he will be a victim to circumstance,” said Mohammed al-Asaadi.

“Widespread public mistrust, a bankrupt government, and an army whose heavy weaponry has been seized by the Houthis, those are significant obstacles to overcome.”

Others say Bahah’s choice as PM is less about his political abilities than the connections he was has with Yemen's oil industry.

“The Houthis agreed to Bahah as PM because they want him to help them gain access to gas and oil assets in Hadramout,” said Mohammed al-Amrani, a Yemeni journalist, referring to the region in south-east Yemen that is home to the majority of the country’s oil reserves.

Al-Bukhaiti, the Houthi representative, denied the allegation.

According to Amrani, the new Prime Minister is the nephew of a powerful Saudi oil tycoon, Sheikh Abdullah Bugshan.

“Yemen is a corrupt country run by gangs... our chances of ever having a decent PM are slim,” said al-Amrani.

A Yemeni official who did not wish to be named described Bahah ias a "man of principle," pointing out that he was one of the few politicians who stood against the corruption of Saleh during his 33 year rule of Yemen.

In an essay written shortly after Saleh was toppled in 2012, Bahah, then Yemen’s ambassador to Canada, spoke of Saleh as a “Machiavellian autocrat” with “negligible education.”

"Throughout his (Saleh’s) rule, he has been a capricious man of broken promises — justifying his erratic behaviour by likening the ruling of Yemen to 'dancing on the heads of snakes.' However, a Tunisian fruit-seller’s suicide began the chain of events that brought Saleh’s dancing to an end."

On Saleh’s immunity from prosecution Bahel wrote:

"Saleh’s agreement to relinquish power was attained upon the condition of his full immunity from prosecution. While immunity continues to be a sore point for Yemenis, it was the only means to an end."