THE SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT RASHAD AL-ALIMI ON THE 34th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITY DAY OF YEMEN

  Aden:

 

In the name of Allah, the most benevolent, the most merciful

Our great Yemeni people at home and abroad, I greet you on the anniversary of this Glorious Day, the birth day of the Republic of Yemen. The day in which the spirit of history was manifested, and the great hopes of successive generations in south and north of the country were fulfilled. Despite the exceptional circumstances that our great nation is experiencing today as a result of the coup by the terrorist Houthi militias, and the devastation and destruction it has left behind, the twenty-second of May will remain a solemn occasion surrounded with appreciation. It will remain a historical moment worthy of contemplation, and a conscious initiative to protect our national consensus and the will of our people, ensuring broad participation in decision-making, without exclusion or marginalization.

It is a matter of pride that this occasion comes when our Republican Alliance has become stronger and more unified around its major national goals, in which our people are victorious due to the sacrifices of heroes from our armed and security forces, all military formations, and the popular resistance. Our people are victorious due to our steadfast cities as they engage in another round of the fateful battle against the racist, tyrannical, and proxy Imamate project of the Iranian regime.

Dear citizens, ladies and gentlemen everywhere, Yemen Unity, since its very beginning as an idea and a national call, until its birth as a tangible reality, represented in its essence an integrated civilizational project, based on a set of lofty principles. The most important of which are: strengthening national unity, broad partnership in power and wealth, achieving justice and equality, and the rule of law. Just as the free Yemenis in the north and south of the country cling to the contents of this renaissance project, they strongly refuse to empty it of its national, political, and moral content, and for it to become merely a shadowy slogan that hides the tendency to tyranny and the monopoly of power and wealth. This is the tendency embodied today by the terrorist Houthi militias, which speak hypocritically about Yemen unity, while they strive every day to devote facts to division materially and morally. They work systematically to fragment the social structure and divide its components on class, sectarian and regional basis. 

Therefore, we affirm our full commitment to our previous pledges on this occasion, first and foremost considering the southern issue as a basis for a comprehensive solution, and our openness to all options to enable our people to achieve their aspirations, determine their political status, and their economic, social, and cultural development in accordance with national, regional, and international references. It is enough that we are meeting today in the interim capital, Aden, as a unified, consensual leadership, to confront the renewed dangers, as our early ancestors did over the course of nearly seven decades of defending the republican system. The Republican System which has never gone through a more difficult time than it is experiencing now. As a terrorist group hysterically pursues our people in everywhere, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and displacing millions in a way that exceeds all racist wars throughout its dark history.

Oh, our great Yemeni people, on this day, just as we praise the virtues of the first generation that contributed to the birth of the Republic of Yemen, we also express great appreciation to those who took the lead in correcting the course of this national project after the summer war of 1994. Those who started with the launch of the peaceful Southern Movement, and passed through the popular demands for change, all the way to convoys of martyrs and wounded members of the armed and security forces, all military formations, and the popular resistance against the Houthi Imamate project. Therefore, before this national occasion, we honored those brave heroes who paid their lives for freedom, and there is nothing better than for all political components to be inspired by their legacy, and their steadfastness with greater alignment and mobilization of all capabilities and energies to restore state institutions and deter the Iranian project that lurks in all of us without exception.

The truth is that whoever looks carefully at the movement of history clearly realizes that Yemen unity and the merits of the southern issue are two sides of one idea and one dream. Two sides of a pluralistic republican Yemen, and a system based on justice, equality, and the rule of law. This is the new homeland that I and my fellow, members of the Presidential Leadership Council, seek to embody as a reality as much as possible. Through diligent work to correct mistakes, rebuild institutions, and sincerely adhere to the values of partnership in power, wealth, and national consensus. We seek to do that through empowering local authorities, strengthening their independence, supporting good governance mechanisms, and consolidating the decentralization of power, in the ruins of the idea of sacred centers of governance.

Dear citizens,  the ideal way to celebrate national holidays is to stand seriously to face the existing challenges, and work to address the issues of the present and the requirements of the future, without dwelling on the differences and conflicts of the past, but rather turning it into an opportunity for review and evaluation, and moving forward towards a better future. It is obviously that today we stand before a pivotal moment at all local, regional and international levels, a moment rich in opportunities but also full of challenges. The decisive factor in our ability to achieve our national goals, will remain the extent to which we adhere to our cohesiveness and the unity of goal. Over the past months, the Houthi terrorists have failed - contrary to what their illusions portrayed them - in managing the political, diplomatic, and economic battle before the legitimate state institutions and its national forces.

They ended up with more local and international isolation, despite their opportunistic bets on riding the wave of Arab and Islamic sympathy for the just Palestinian cause, and compromising the pain of its great people. Therefore, there is no choice today for Iran’s agents but to move towards peace, which they have rejected in form and content so far. Or to go towards a comprehensive military adventure, to impose their oppressive will on the Yemeni people who have resisted, and will resist, this tyrannical project forever.

It has become clear that the Houthi terrorist militia, after contemplating its absurd threat to international shipping, believes that it can turn around and ignite battles on the internal fronts. In this context, we affirm the  cohesiveness and readiness of the armed and security forces in all their formations, to deter any hostile adventure, and the coup plotters have bitterly tested during the past weeks some of the valor of our forces stationed on various fronts. On this occasion, we must emphasize that the Presidential Leadership Council has never and will never abandon its strict approach to resisting the Houthi Imamate project, supported by the Iranian regime, on the path to restoring state institutions and overthrowing the coup. As for our position regarding peace, the Presidential Leadership Council stresses the four principles that we have repeatedly emphasized:  firstly, adherence to national, regional, and international references, especially Resolution 2216,  secondly: emphasizing not to prejudice the legal and political status of the United Nations’ member state, and thirdly: the comprehensiveness of any peace process and its protection by regional and international guarantees, including the presence of the southern issue, in any future consultations.

Fourthly: The continuation of the policy of openness to all mediation efforts related to alleviating the suffering of our citizens and securing their interests and decent livelihoods.

O great people, We know very well that hot summer days have doubled your suffering, especially in the coastal areas, particularly the interim capital, Aden. Unfortunately, the current crisis at the service and economic levels was not only the result of government negligence, otherwise it would have been easy for us to address it. Rather, its fundamental cause lies in the behavior of the terrorist Houthi militias that targeted oil installations and took them out of export two years ago. Then they went to threatening commercial ships in our territorial waters, which has exacerbated the economic burdens on our country, its people, and its government. However, the terrorism of the Houthi militias does not absolve us of the responsibility to work to improve the situation and end the chronic energy crisis. Above all we appreciate the patience of our citizens who bear the brunt of the suffering.

That is why we are working on this level within two tracks: The first is the emergency track, which we directed to be undertaken by the relevant executive authorities through urgent solutions to secure the fuel necessary to operate the existing electrical system, increase its generating capabilities, and respond immediately to any emergency. The second track is the electric generation track, which the Presidential Leadership Council has been working on for two years with the government and local authorities. In order to develop a comprehensive strategy aimed at finding radical solutions to the electricity problem with the support of our brothers in the coalition to support legitimacy led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Here it is worth noting that an imminent breakthrough in service will come from the sustainability of fuel supplies, and the completion of the entry of 120 megawatts into generation plants next month in Aden Governorate from the renewable energy station. In addition to 25 megawatts which has been  entered into generation in the Al-Mocha District, in Taiz Governorate. Work is also underway to establish a renewable energy plant with a capacity of 56 megawatts in Shabwa Governorate as a first stage. In addition to 50 megawatts in Al-Khawkhah and Hays, while preparations are being made to build electrical plants in Hadhramaut with a capacity of 25 megawatts, another in Taiz with a capacity of 30 megawatts, and a third in Ras Al-Ara with a capacity of 100 megawatts. The government is also working to increase the generation capacity of the President’s plant in Aden to more than 200 megawatts, after the dilapidated distribution network was completely renewed during the past two years. While our brothers in Kuwait support a project to re-maintain and rehabilitate the Marib gas station with an amount of $40 million, in addition to appreciated contributions from the local authority in the governorate.

As much as success in the first track requires more dedication and work by state agencies, progress in the second track requires more patience and willingness to pay the cost required by any comprehensive positive change to improve services and recover the economy.

O great people, In conclusion, allow me, on my own behalf, the members of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, to renew thanks and appreciation to our brothers in the countries of the coalition to support legitimacy led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their continued support for our people, their political leadership, and their aspirations for peace, stability and development. It is also an occasion to send great congratulations, gratitude and appreciation to the heroes of the armed and security forces, all military formations, and the popular resistance stationed on various fronts, defending dignity, identity, and the republic in a legendary epic. In which victory will represent a radical transformation, not only on the ability to deal with the effects of the past, but to a greater extent in fulfilling future entitlements.

Mercy to martyrs,, Healing for the wounded, Freedom for the prisoners, Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah