The unification of the General People's Congress party wings is still a distant goal, despite regional and international efforts to bring it back to the forefront of Yemeni politics, party sources revealed Wednesday.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the main obstacle lies in the rivalry among local and foreign GPC wings on the party’s presidency, in addition to conflicting agendas.
While the Sanaa-based GPC is linked to Houthi militias under the leadership of Sadiq Amin Abou Rass, other party officials outside Yemen support Ahmed, the son of slain former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, to lead the party, according to the same sources.
Other party leaders also insist on unifying it under the leadership of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was Saleh’s deputy before the Houthi coup.
In Egypt last year, Hadi failed to garner the support of a number of party officials.
The meeting in Cairo also failed to bringing views closer.
In a recent attempt, a meeting was held in Abu Dhabi between deputy chairman of the party, Sultan al-Barakani and other party leaders, in the presence of Saleh’s son. The meeting also ended without taking decisions on any practical steps.
Another meeting held on July 22 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, also failed to bring GPC party wings closer.
The sources said the Jeddah meeting failed to come up with visions and ideas that would contribute to unifying the party.
Instead, the meeting, which was held in the presence of Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, deputy chairman of the party and al-Barakani, decided to continue the deliberations and communicate effectively with the conference leaders abroad and at home to urge them to take part in discussion efforts.
Saleh was the head of the GPC before he was killed in December 2017 by the Iran-backed Houthis.
His death left the GPC divided between figures forced to yield to the Houthis and others still loyal to their slain former leader.
