Riyadh- Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi refused to receive the political roadmap for peace in Yemen put forth by the U.N. Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
The Yemeni government elaborated on the rebuff, saying that the roadmap has a poor understanding of the situation in Yemen and does not agree with most previously set references for peace.
President Hadi rejected the deal after meeting the U.N. Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed in Riyadh.
“The Yemeni people have condemned these ideas and the so-called road map out of belief that the deal is a gateway to more suffering and war,” Mr. Hadi said. “The ideas presented … carry the seeds of war,” he added. “It rewards the coup leaders and punishes the Yemeni people at the same time.”
The internationally recognized president of Yemen and his deputy will not step down or hand over their powers to new leaders until their previously stated conditions are met.
Mr. Hadi told Mr. Ahmed that peace is only attainable when the rebel “coup” is reversed, based on a U.N. Security Council resolution that stipulates the rebels must lay down their weapons and withdraw from cities as a precondition to any peace agreement.
The government official responding to media reports said that the latest U.N.-proposed draft agreement presented to Houthis over looks most fundamental conditions for peace in Yemen such as the outcomes of national dialogue and the Gulf initiative.
“President Hadi’s resignation is out of the question until Houthis first put into effect UN Security Council resolution 2216, a new constitution is approved and an election is held,” Hadi’s aide said on Friday.
What the U.N. envoy presented to Houthis are initial ideas and the government has the right to accept or reject them.
Prime Minister Ahmad Bin Daghar and his cabinet ministers vowed to reject any peace plan that does not require Houthis to disarm and leave cities ahead of establishing a new governing body. Limited protests took place in some southern cities rejecting the new proposal, which Houthis are yet to respond to.
Some senior figures in the group however urged their leaders to reject the plan as it would defang their movement.