Aden, Aug 14 (IANS) Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik met representatives of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh to discuss forming a new power-sharing government.
During the meeting on Thursday, they discussed the arrangements for forming the new government and its priorities, including conducting economic reforms and unifying a national front for ending the Houthi coup, reports Xinhua news agency.
The two sides underlined the need to form a new government by competent officials, who will be able to tackle current political, military, security and economic challenges, in addition to eradicating corruption and activating the state’s institutions.
Both sides also discussed about the significance of forming a new government within the defined time period under the Saudi mechanism of speeding up the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.
Earlier in the day, a military delegation of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition arrived in Aden to monitor the situation and prevent any new military escalation between the government and the STC in southern Yemen.
On Tuesday, clashes renewed between the forces of the two sides in the southern province of Abyan.
The renewed conflicts threaten to collapse the mechanisms proposed by Saudi Arabia last month to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh power-sharing agreement signed between the two warring rivals in November last year.
The new mechanisms, including maintaining the cease-fire and de-escalation between the two sides, came into effect on July 22.
Last year, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet equally between the two rival factions.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including the capital Sanaa.
–IANS
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