Chibli Mallat

What must be done in Yemen after the military occupation of Sanaa last summer by the Houthi militia? On Sunday, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2201 was passed unanimously. It condemned the Houthis and insisted on the return of “the legal authorities,” including a long defunct parliament, and dialogue. Like many U.N. resolutions, however, it fell far short.

Nor did the magic word of “constitution” do in the text. The unilateral Constitutional Declaration issued by the Houthi movement on Feb. 2 was as bad as the long and verbose Draft Constitution produced hastily a week earlier by the Constitutional Committee put in charge by the now-defunct U.N.-sponsored National Dialogue. 

In both cases, the crass political use of a new social contract after four decades of dictatorship defeated the very purpose of a constitution: to establish the basis for nonviolent conviviality. What Yemen needs urgently is an eminently political process, not a constitutional one. Let’s leave lofty constitutional declarations and texts to a less troubled moment.

In recent weeks and months, the most remarkable solution for a way out has been provided, not surprisingly, by Tawakkol Karman. She has called for a new revolution in Yemen until militias are dissolved and a modern state is established on the basis of freedom, dignity, justice, equality, welfare, democracy, peace and law. Despite her association with the Yemeni version of the Muslim Brotherhood, embodied by Islah, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner has transcended the befuddled views of the organization to concentrate on nonviolent civil resistance. 

The last few days in Sanaa have borne the fruit of her persistent advocacy, building on the efforts of the millions of people who made the revolution such an extraordinary phenomenon through months of nonviolence leading to the demise of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011. Thousands of people have been coming out onto the streets of Sanaa in recent days, protesting in a nonviolent way against its occupation by the Houthis. The Houthis have responded by shooting into the crowds, similar to what happened during the Saleh dictatorship.

For many Yemenis the Houthi attempt to re-establish a dictatorship underlines their perceived collusion with Saleh, who has used his immunity from prosecution negotiated with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in 2011 to undermine the political process for the past four years. In a moment of cruel irony, Houthis are finding themselves on the same side as Saleh, who was responsible for killing their founding leader, Hussein Badreddine al-Houthi, in September 2004. 

The people of Sanaa, and Yemenis at large must win this battle, one that is vital for the international community. But the U.N. Security Council has not been listening carefully enough.

The Security Council has denounced the rampant Houthi coup. This is fine but insufficient. It must underline a workable, moral alternative beyond a vague call for dialogue. Nor is reinstating the former president, Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, the solution. Yemen needs a new leadership, without the Houthis and Al-Qaeda, and without Saleh and Hadi, who resigned on Jan. 22. After all, Hadi led the brutal military takeover of South Yemen in 1994 on behalf of Saleh. Yemen needs leaders who do not have blood on their hands. That is best achieved through a rotating presidential leadership composed of all factions that have refused to resort to force in Yemen.

This is the message of the majority of Yemenis whom Karman represents best. Houthis, on account of suffering Saleh’s brutality, should be allowed to join the interim leadership at a later stage but only after they account for their aggression during the past five months. The spirit of the nonviolent revolution of 2011 must be reclaimed. Saleh, too, should be held accountable for three decades of dictatorship, whether before a Yemeni or an international tribunal.

The U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar did a good job in the National Dialogue from 2011 to 2014, except for the protection of Saleh that was foisted on him by the GCC agreements, and the anointment of Hadi without a proper electoral process.

The Yemeni revolution of 2011 was an extraordinary moment in modern history. It is being rekindled on Sanaa’s streets. Now is the time to help nonviolent Yemenis win against those who do not hesitate to use violence to achieve their political objectives. 

That is what is missing in Resolution 2201, most importantly a salute to the legitimacy of the nonviolent demonstrators standing against the Houthis. The U.N. must also call for a rotating presidency composed of Yemeni representatives with no blood on their hands. And it must seek to end the immunity that was wrongly granted to Saleh.