Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The National Bloc of Yemeni Political Parties and Components has called for urgent intervention to rescue Yemen’s collapsing economy and raise salaries. It warned of the repercussions of the rapid depreciation of the national currency and the deteriorating security situation.
This came in a statement issued on Thursday following an extraordinary three-day meeting chaired by Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghr.
The statement focused on the strangling economic crisis, explaining that the sharp decline in the value of the national currency and unprecedented price increases are burdening citizens and widening the circle of poverty, amid a lack of effective solutions.
The Bloc’s Supreme Authority attributed this deterioration to the consequences of the Houthi militia’s coup and its targeting of oil export outlets, as well as the absence of sound policies, the disintegration of the financial system, and the leakage of resources outside legal channels, all of which have led to an imbalance in the balance of payments and a collapse of confidence in monetary authorities.
The Council presented a package of urgent economic demands to the government and the Presidential Leadership Council, including:
- Raising salaries by a minimum of 100% and ensuring their regular disbursement.
- Complete control over resources and optimal use of foreign remittances.
- Urgent reform of the electricity and water sectors and halting unproductive power purchase contracts.
The Council also demanded “strengthening partnerships with Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries to invest grants in infrastructure, preparing a transparent public budget, reforming the salary scale, expanding social security programs, activating oversight bodies and anti-corruption efforts, and re-forming the tenders committee.”
In the context of the link between security and economic stability, the Council condemned the incident where forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) stormed Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque in Mansoura, Aden, and abducted its imam. It described this as a violation of the sanctity of places of worship and a blow to state authority, demanding accountability for the perpetrators and prevention of such violations from recurring, which further complicate the situation.
The statement stressed that confronting these intertwined challenges requires rebuilding state institutions on national foundations, strengthening the principle of separation of powers and the rule of law, and broadening the base of political partnership.
It called on the Presidential Leadership Council to assume its historical responsibilities to save the economy, improve living conditions, maintain security, and unify the military and security institutions.
The Supreme Council of the National Bloc concluded by announcing its continued national role in cooperation with political and societal forces to support the government in restoring the state, ending the coup, alleviating the suffering of Yemenis, and striving to build a modern, just civil state.
