SANAA: Feminists in Yemen have condemned the exclusion of women from a new government formed under a power-sharing deal between the internationally-recognised government and separatists. The 24-strong government announced late on Friday includes members of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) as part of a Saudi-brokered bid to end a power struggle between the sides.
The deal was signed in the Saudi capital Riyadh in November of last year. The new government is the first without female members in 20 years, the Yemeni Women Movement, a grouping of pro-women alliances in the country, said. “This is unfair discrimination against women’s right to political participation,” the group said in a statement. “While we appreciate the formation of the government as a fruit of consensus among Yemeni political powers in the Riyadh agreement, we denounce women’s exclusion from the government,” it added.
The new government equally represents Yemen’s northern and southern areas. President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi has issued a decree for forming the government, reappointing Maeen Abdulmalik as prime minister, Yemen’s state news agency Saba reported.
United Nations envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, hailed the formation of the new government as an “important step” towards resolving the country’s years-long conflict. — dpa
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