Speech by President Al-Alimi on the occasion of Ramadan

  Aden

Praise be to Allah, who said in His Noble Book: “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous”.

Dear fellow citizens everywhere,

On my own behalf, my brothers, members of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, I extend my congratulations to you all, on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan. We thank God Almighty that we have reached this holy month, the month of the Qur’an, mercy, and forgiveness. We also ask Him to help us in fasting and praying, and to help us do good deeds and good obedience.

Oh sisters and brothers,

One of the blessings of God Almighty on this good country is this people who are patient for the sake of freedom and dignity, and behind them are their armed and security forces, their popular resistance and all military formations, who all deserve special congratulations, great pride, praise and gratitude on the holy month.

It is an occasion for me to also thank all the national components, and the platforms of awareness at home and abroad that resist the Imamate project, which contribute effectively to confronting misinformation and strengthening this legendary popular steadfastness.

I also extend my thanks and gratitude to our loyal brothers in the Coalition to Support Legitimacy led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Those who were at the forefront of defending dignity and identity, providing relief to our people, preserving the cohesion of its institutions, and keeping them present in all regional and international forums.

This internal alignment and regional and international cooperation will remain, as it has always been, the source of our strength and pride to achieve complete victory, with God’s help.

Dear fellow citizens:

Yemen's sovereignty, security, stability, and territorial integrity are a firm principle that cannot be compromised, and it is an integral part of the battle to restore state institutions and its authority over the entire national territory, since the Houthi militias turned against the popular will and seized dear areas of the country by brute force. In an Iranian effort to occupy Yemen, violating its sovereignty, independence, and severing it from its Gulf fabric and Arab identity.

Therefore, the Houthi militias’ false cry over sovereignty to justify their terrorist operations in the Red Sea was not surprising, because this is their expected and stringent approach, which they have relied on since their suspicious inception. They relied on all that to escape from any internal obligations, and to continue their tampering with the interests of our people in the service of the Iranian expansionist project in the region.

The militias want, in vain, from this escalation, to break their international isolation, and to try to impose a fait accompli to speak on behalf of the Yemenis who have valiantly resisted their racist project for an entire decade. Yemenis will continue to do so until the end.

The results and consequences of these rogue hostile acts have had a catastrophic impact on the Yemeni people and their supply lines with life-saving goods, with shipping and insurance costs and the prices of basic imports doubling. Thus there is possibility of facing a widespread famine that we, our brothers and friends, have struggled to avoid over the past years.

Moreover, the militarization of the Red Sea and our territorial waters, as well as the risks of environmental pollution, the loss of fishermen’s livelihoods and the death of marine life, would leave sustainable impacts on our food and national security.

Therefore, when the history of this era is written, the Houthi terrorist operations will only be recorded as one of the factors of chaos, and the phenomena of recklessness and devastation that have harmed the interests of our people and our country. At a time when our citizens are starving due to the siege of cities in Taiz, Marib, Al-Dhalea, and other cities and regions throughout the country. 

Brothers, sisters,

We are fully aware of the extent of your long-term suffering, and its harm deepens the more the militias become more reckless and stubborn in the face of all efforts to bring peace and restore the coexistence that has prevailed in this country throughout the ages.

Therefore, the government continues to work from within with unremitting efforts to limit the repercussions of terrorist militia attacks on oil installations that have stopped exporting for 16 months. At the forefront is improving the position of the national currency, ensuring the sustainability of services, and paying employees’ salaries, which have been further eroded by the Houthi terrorist escalation against maritime cargo ships. 

It is an occasion in this holy month to confirm the state’s commitment to comprehensive reforms, improving non-oil revenues, and making the citizen the focus of its attention and the core of its service and development plans and programs in various sectors.

I will be frank with you that the encouraging surplus achieved by the state’s general budget in the first year of the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council, turned into a distressing deficit in the following year, but with God’s help, with the cooperation of all components, and with the support of our brothers and friends, we were able to restore balance by focusing on the inevitable obligations towards our patient citizens. 

We are confident that with more work and patience, we will move forward, God willing, to restore the momentum of reforms and development and take all measures to thwart and deter the plans of the militias, backed by the Iranian regime.

Oh sisters and brothers,

On this blessed night, of the eve of the holy month, I address our people in Sana’a and the areas under forceful control of the Houthi militias. We have made every effort and made all concessions in order to resume paying your salaries, but the corrupt militias refused to do anything but continued the suffering.

Today, the Houthi militia wants to trade its overseas propaganda operations for slavery and tyrannical rule that the Yemenis buried six decades ago.

It is strange that these militias go to compromise on the pain of the Palestinian people, while continuing the most horrific violations, impoverishment policies, siege of cities, starvation against our people, confiscating their property, and preventing all means to help them in the areas under their control by force.

We are still presenting several initiatives to test the militias’ intentions to deal positively with humanitarian issues and improve living conditions. There is nothing easier than opening roads, abolishing arbitrary commissions on citizens’ remittances from liberated governorates, ending restrictions on the activities of the private sector and its humanitarian interventions, and freedom of movement of citizens, basic goods, and relief agencies.

Dear fellow citizens,

It is painful that the holy month of Ramadan comes while our brothers in occupied Palestine are suffering killing, displacement and abuse at the hands of the Israeli war machine, in one of the most horrific human rights violations in history.

The position of the Republic of Yemen will remain steadfast in its support for the struggle of the Palestinian people, their just cause, their right to self-defense, and the establishment of their independent, fully sovereign state.

We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities for an immediate ceasefire, end the suffering of the Palestinian people, and implement the relevant international legitimacy resolutions as a gateway to establishing comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.

We also condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation's decision to build more settlements and its provocative attempts to Judaize large parts of the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem.

Dear citizens,

Ramadan is the blessed month in which good deeds are doubled, and it is an opportunity to seize good deeds, connect family ties, refine souls, tolerate, and create joy in people’s hearts.

On this great religious occasion, we have directed the concerned authorities to release prisoners who have served three-quarters of their sentence or half of it, and to consider releasing with commercial guarantees those imprisoned on special rights. We have directed the concerned authorities to form committees in the governorates from prosecutors, local authorities and chambers of commerce to assist the insolvent. A presidential -governmental committee has been formed to review the conditions of central prisons and transform them into centers for reform, refinement, and care in accordance with national and international laws.

We also call on businessmen and philanthropists to extend a helping hand and provide assistance to those in need in light of these difficult living conditions that our country and its steadfast people are going through.

It is an  occasion to renew our call and initiatives for the comprehensive release of detainees, kidnapped, detainees, and prisoners in accordance with the all-for-all rule in order to end the suffering of thousands of our people and reunite them with their bereaved families.

I ask God Almighty, on this blessed night, to help us seize the days and nights of Ramadan in good obedience to Him, and to grant us success and prosperity. We also ask God Almighty to have mercy for the martyrs, healing for the wounded, and freedom for the detainees, and to protect our country, our people, and all other peoples and countries from all harm and evil. May God accept fasting and prayers from all of us. He is the All Hearer, the All Responsive.

Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah