Barran Press
On Tuesday, July 15, 2024, Yemeni political parties and forces issued a stern warning against any reversal of recent decisions made by the Central Bank of Yemen and the Presidential Leadership Council. The statement, which was obtained by Barran Press, asserted that such a move would have "grave consequences for the legal status of the state" and push the country "towards an unknown future."
The statement highlighted that backing down from these decisions would not only deprive the state of its strategic resources but also strip the legitimate authority of its constitutional, legal, political, popular, and moral legitimacy. It further argued that such a retreat would lead the nation, both its people and government, "into the unknown, perpetuating the coup and the war," leaving behind detrimental consequences that may be difficult to rectify in the future.
The parties urged the Presidential Leadership Council to confront "all pressures" faced by the Central Bank leadership. They warned that succumbing to these pressures would lead to the "abandonment of the rights of Yemenis, weakening the legal and constitutional status of sovereign institutions, and strengthening the ability of the Houthi militias to control more resources, which they will use in their war against the state and its institutions."
The statement lauded the "national and societal consensus" demonstrated by all national and social forces, viewing the "popular support for the Central Bank's decisions and the backing they received from the Presidential Leadership Council as a popular referendum confirming the legitimacy of the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, in addition to their constitutional and consensual legitimacy."
The parties called on various political and social components to strengthen their unity and support for the Central Bank and the Presidential Leadership Council in moving forward with economic reforms, aiming to serve the highest national interest and alleviate the suffering of citizens across Yemen.
They appealed to the UN Secretary-General and his Special Envoy to Yemen to uphold Security Council resolutions, particularly resolutions 2216 and 2451 regarding the Stockholm Agreement, and to ensure their implementation. They emphasized the need to respect the legal status of the legitimate authority and its sovereign decisions, including those related to the Yemeni banking institution, and to refrain from any proposals that undermine the sovereign rights of state institutions.
The statement pointed out that the Houthi militias are engaging in acts of looting and seizing public and private property, including bank assets and depositor funds, and seizing state revenues in all areas, including revenues from the port of Hodeidah, in violation of Security Council resolutions.
They urged the UN Secretary-General to ensure that the actions of the UN envoy do not violate Security Council resolutions, undermine the neutrality of the UN, and encourage the Houthi militias to reject peace, mock Yemeni society, and the international community.
The parties called on all political, social, and trade union components to organize demonstrations and public rallies in support of the decisions and measures taken by the Central Bank of Yemen and in rejection of any backtracking on them, reflecting the unity between the masses and the sovereign institutions of the state.
They condemned the "repressive and barbaric practices" of the Houthi terrorist militia against banks, banking companies, and their employees, their attempts to seize them, impose levies, and force them to operate outside the legal framework to carry out their illegal financial activities.
The parties signing the statement include the General People's Congress, the Yemeni Islah Party, the Yemeni Socialist Party, the Popular Nasserist Unity Organization, the Yemeni Rashad Union, the Renaissance Movement for Peaceful Change, the National Solidarity Party, the Union of Yemeni Popular Forces, the Yemeni Unity Gathering, the Peace and Development Party, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and the People's Democratic Party "Hashim."
On May 30, the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden declared the temporary capital of the country, issued a decision to stop dealing with six Yemeni banks and financial institutions after the deadline for implementing its decision to relocate their main headquarters to Aden expired after 60 days.
Simultaneously, the bank issued another decision calling on all individuals, commercial establishments, companies, other entities, and financial and banking institutions holding old banknotes from before 2016 of various denominations to deposit them within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the announcement.
The Central Bank continued its measures to confront the economic measures taken by the Houthi group, internationally classified as a terrorist organization, against the banking sector, which cast a shadow over the economic situation, leading to a decline in the value of the Yemeni riyal in areas controlled by the government.
In decisions issued by Governor Ahmed al-Mublaqi, the Central Bank revoked the licenses of 26 exchange companies last week, ordering the closure of their branches indefinitely for violating the bank's decisions and instructions.
These decisions came after two previous decisions imposing a unified network for domestic transfers, prohibiting dealing with 12 unauthorized electronic payment entities, and permanently halting operations in local financial transfer networks owned by banks, financial institutions, or exchange companies operating in Yemen.
These decisions, described as "decisive," come amidst regional and international pressure led by the United Nations for the Central Bank to back down from its steps aimed at asserting its legal status, controlling the banking sector, and fulfilling its duty to supervise banks and combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Barran Press obtained a letter from UN envoy Hans Grundberg to the Presidential Leadership Council, in which he called for a postponement of the implementation of the recent decisions of the Central Bank of Yemen regarding the suspension of licenses for banks that have failed to relocate their headquarters to Aden, declared the temporary capital of Yemen.
In the letter, Grundberg expressed his concern about the decision of the Central Bank of Yemen, numbered 30 for the year 2024, which "calls for the suspension of licenses for six banks, and the subsequent communication with correspondent banks and the SWIFT system," indicating that this "will lead to the cessation of access by those banks to correspondent banks and the SWIFT system."
The UN envoy urged the Yemeni government and the Central Bank of Yemen to "postpone the implementation of the decisions at least until the end of August," calling for "the initiation of a dialogue under the auspices of the United Nations between Yemeni parties to discuss recent economic developments in Yemen."
For its part, the Presidential Leadership Council held an "emergency meeting" to discuss Grundberg's letter, during which it affirmed its "commitment to a clear agenda for participation in any dialogue on the economic file," according to the official Yemeni news agency Saba.
The Leadership Council set a condition for proceeding with any dialogue on the economic file, namely, "the resumption of oil exports, the unification of the national currency, the cancellation of all arbitrary measures against the banking sector, and the business community."