28-03-2024 11:40 PM Jerusalem Timing

Yemen Huthis Mulling Draft Deal on New Gov’t

Yemen Huthis Mulling Draft Deal on New Gov’t

A Yemeni presidential delegation has handed the Huthis a draft proposal on forming a technocrat government, an official spokesman said Saturday.

A Yemeni presidential delegation has handed the Huthis a draft proposal on forming a technocrat government, an official spokesman said Saturday.

The presidential delegation has been holding talks with Huthis commander Abdulmalik al-Huthi in his northern Saada stronghold since Thursday to convince his group to join a new government.Yemeni police

Huthi supporters, meanwhile, have been staging protests against a steep hike in fuel prices and demanding the incumbent national unity government step down.

The government, headed by Prime Minister Mohamed Basindawa, was formed in December 2011 under a transition agreement that paved the way for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster.

"There is a draft agreement and we are waiting for the Huthis to sign and start implementing it in the next hours," presidential team spokesman Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi told reporters in Saada.

He said the main points in the accord were to form "a technocrat government within a one-month period from the date of signing the draft document and an economic committee to review the country's economic situation."