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Saudis obstructing democracy in Yemen: Pundit

Sunday, 20 December 2015 5:48 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 20 December 2015 5:49 AM ]

This picture released by the UN shows a general view of the room at the opening of Yemen peace talks in Magglingen, northern Switzerland on December 15, 2015. ©AFP

Press TV has conducted an interview with Hazem Salem, a political activist and commentator from Cairo, and Jihad Mouracadeh, a political analyst from Beirut, to discuss the peace talks underway in Switzerland on the conflict in Yemen.

Salem said all Yemeni people want the peace talks “to be a success” and support a solution to the conflict, but it is the Saudi regime that does not “accept democracy” in the neighboring country.

The analyst pointed to the political process in Yemen before the start of Riyadh’s military campaign, saying the Saudi kingdom unleashed the deadly raids as it had the illusion that it could rule the Arabian Peninsula state.

He said the government of former fugitive president, Abd Rabbuh Manur Hadi, has lost its legitimacy, adding that the talks in Switzerland seem to be an attempt to change the game in favor of the ex-administration that enjoys the backing of Al Saud.

Salem further slammed the Saudi military for its continued bombardment of Yemen in defiance of the UN-backed truce, saying “the Saudis are not good at negotiations” and continue violating the ceasefire, which has been agreed upon as a confidence-building measure for the peace talks to bear fruit.

Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with its bombing campaign in an attempt to impose its own will on the Yemeni nation, according to Salem.

Mouracadeh, for his part, said there is no hope that the Yemeni peace talks in Switzerland will succeed due to serious differences between the Ansarullah movement and the Saudi-backed delegation from the former government.

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