MP Abdul Razzaq al-Hijri, head of the Parliamentary Bloc of the Yemeni Islah Party, said that political parties should not be marginalized or excluded from participating in any negotiations because this will provide the opportunity for other parties to fill the vacuum that will be created by the absence of those parties.

In a virtual session held by the Sana’a Center for Studies on Friday evening, on “Yemeni Parties and the Political Settlement,” in which party leaders were hosted to discuss the future of the settlement, al-Hijri considered it a mistake to continue marginalizing the political forces and limit the discussion on the political settlement within the framework of the Presidential Leadership Council only, pointing out Parties are the political bearer of legitimacy and the basis of the party-based political system.

He expressed his hope that the efforts of the brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman would succeed in leading a political process that would lead to ending the coup, restoring the state and its institutions, and resuming the political process that existed before the Houthi coup overthrew it.

He expressed his hope that the efforts of the brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman would succeed in leading a political process that would lead to ending the coup, restoring the state and its institutions, and resuming the political process as it was before the Houthi coup overthrew it.

Al-Hijri warned of the danger of legitimizing militia action as a fait accompli or procrastinations in the political process, noting that the Houthi militias have been procrastinating the international community for nine years regarding the issue of the Safer oil tank, wondering: How will they deal with the political settlement?

He stressed that the political forces will continue their calls for peace by ending the coup, restoring the state, and resuming the political process.

Regarding the possibility of creating a broad national political alliance, al-Hijri referred to the experience of the National Alliance of Political Parties and Forces and its recent arrival at an agreement to be open to all forces and components that support legitimacy to create a broad political alliance.

He noted the party calls to expand the political alliance, noting that the last of those calls was the call of the head of the Supreme Authority of the Yemeni Islah Party, Mr. Muhammad al-Yadumi, which he stated in his speech on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the Islah Party, in which he called for expanding the circle of the political alliance, based on the belief of Islah Party that Yemen will not reach safety except through the agreement of all its people.

Al-Hijri stressed the need to find national alignment and broad partnership in managing the post-political settlement phase, explaining that no party can do this alone.

He pointed out that the National Alliance of Parties had presented a unified vision on the peace process to the Presidential Leadership Council. This vision included emphasizing the foundations of peace through holding a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue, involving political forces, building on the three references, and preserving the state’s legal status and its monopoly on weapons.

Al-Hijri confirmed that the Islah Party has contact with the Transitional Council, the Political Bureau of the Resistance, and the rest of the components, which are united by the national desire to restore the state and recover Yemen. He said that the Islah Party is open and extends its hands to everyone on these foundations and to reach common visions to move towards a broad political process.

He made it clear that all these forces are in one ship and facing one enemy who targets everyone and has an extirpative project. In the face of this, he pointed out that the political forces have commonalities that qualify for good results.

He reiterated that the Islah Party has no problem with the UAE, which is a member of the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy and has provided a lot to support legitimacy, hoping that any misunderstanding would be overcome, stressing that the Islah Party does not want any pretext to be used for any problems in Yemen.

Regarding the allegations made by some about the Islah Party’s contacts with the Houthi militia, the head of the Islah Party’s parliamentary bloc confirmed that the Islah Party is an integral part of the national action system and will only be with the national bloc.

He explained that understandings on any issue will only be achieved through legitimate state institutions and within political parties, and then agreement on these issues will be reached within a collective framework.

Al-Hijri described the continued Houthi militia attacks for more than a year and a half on fronts in Ma’rib, Taiz, and other fronts as a Houthi methodology that believes in imposing its ideas by force, expressing his hope that the efforts of the brothers will be crowned with success and that the Houthi militia must prove that it is with peace, but he said that what the militia is doing does not show any seriousness to bring about peace.

He stressed that it is impossible for the Yemenis to accept to be ruled by force, calling on the Houthi militia to shorten the time and resort to peace.

He considered that the bubbles issued by the Houthi militia are a manifestation of the intention to commit new hostile acts, stressing that any path of negotiation will be within legitimacy and the Islah Party will not have a single-handed position on that.

Regarding the political forces’ evaluation of their performance, reviewing their mistakes, and making the desired change and renewal, the head of the parliamentary bloc of the Islah Party stressed that the political system, whether collectively or individually, bears the mistakes of the past, reminding that the cracks between the political forces enabled the Houthi militia to overthrow the state.

He stressed the need to conduct a complete and responsible evaluation process to overcome failures and work on change, whether in performance or in programs and people.

Al-Hijri explained that the coup's destruction of political life affected the structure of parties and closed the political horizon in areas controlled by the Houthi militia and some areas of legitimacy.

He pointed out that the Islah Party was about to hold its fifth year conference, but events prevented that.

He made it clear that the Islah Party witnessed during the past months a process of change and renewal in the leadership of its Executive Offices through holding elections in most of the governorates, and that it seeks the required change in the next stage when the appropriate opportunity arises that guarantees change in the desired manner.

He stressed the Islah Party's keenness to benefit from new means in the communication process to develop performance and bring about the required change.

The head of the Islah Party’s parliamentary bloc pointed out that women have a presence in the Islah Party at all levels and in external participations. He explained that the next stage will witness development in regulations and literature, as well as renewal to reach a better level with regard to more empowerment of women in leadership positions. In conclusion, he hoped that the absence of women in government would be avoided by the political system as a whole.