The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah party throws the stick of partisan quota into the wheels of the Yemeni government
The Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has placed a major obstacle before efforts to bring a national technocratic government to light in the country.
The Islah party has sparked a sharp crisis with the designated prime minister, Shae’ Zandani, who is holding consultations to form a professional government, as the Brotherhood has clung to an approach based on partisan quota in allocating ministerial portfolios in order to ensure dominance over the levers of decision-making within the executive authority.
Well-informed sources said that the Islah party demanded, under the principle of quota-sharing, a large share of representation reaching up to five ministerial portfolios in the new government headed by Shae’ Zandani.
According to these sources, the prime minister, appointed in mid-January, rejected Islah’s demands, before the Brotherhood moved to pressure the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, to pass their conditions.
Al-Alimi gives in
The Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Al-Alimi, held a meeting on Sunday with parties and political components to discuss the formation of the next government led by Shae’ Zandani, according to political sources.
The sources explained that the Chairman of the Presidential Council informed the parties that he would choose those who would take charge of the four sovereign ministries, namely Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defense and Interior, while the remaining portfolios would be distributed among parties and political components, which implies yielding to the Brotherhood’s demands.
The Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood, sensing a regional and domestic trend to curb their influence, launched a major media campaign against Al-Alimi to pressure him into approving the formation of a quota-based government.
The sources indicated that parties and political components, including the Islah party, have already begun submitting nominations from among their members to Prime Minister Shae’ Zandani, with the government expected to be announced in the coming days.
According to the sources, the new government formation will ensure that two portfolios go to the Islah party, two to the General People’s Congress in the North, and two each to the Yemeni Socialist Party and the Nasserist Party, while disagreement persists over the Ministries of Interior and Defense.
Partnership, not quota-sharing
The Brotherhood had dominated previous governments, appointing a large number of their leaders as deputy ministers and directors general, in addition to placing their members in charge of committees and offices close to decision-making circles, including administrative offices, secretariats and technical committees, with the aim of exerting a methodical and calculated influence on political decision-making.
Commenting on this, the Secretary-General of the Nasserist Party in Taiz, Adel Al-Oqaibi, said that “Dr. Shae’ Zandani is the one tasked with forming the government, and he has the right to consult whomever he wishes in selecting his team, since he will bear responsibility for leading it.”
He explained that “Zandani has the right to present the formation he sees as capable of leading the current phase, as partnership does not in any way mean quota-sharing, but rather participation in decision-making, policies and orientations, setting priorities, and agreeing on procedures, means and mechanisms of implementation and management.”
He added that “partnership and national consensus do not mean the division or allocation of public office, as public office is a right for every citizen who deserves it according to its legal conditions, whereas the quota system turns office into a privilege reserved for party members or some of them.”
The Yemeni politician urged parties and political organizations, including the Brotherhood, to seek “a better way to achieve partnership and national consensus, away from quota-sharing and division.”
