The new Yemen: United or divided?
As President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi announces a federalism plan, we ask if it is the best option for the country.
Shia rebels and activists demanding independence in Yemen’s south have rejected the call for a six-region federation. Just the day before, President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi had proudly approved the plan.
He wants federalism included in Yemen’s new constitution, something that will be put to a vote in a referendum. The desire for autonomy in the south has been an issue for almost as long as Yemen has been one country.
But does the plan create poor and wealthy regions, as the rebels insist it does? And will it address the deep divisions and mistrust inside Yemen?
Presenter: Sami Zeidan
Guests: Joseph Kechichian, a senior writer at Gulf News
Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, a political analyst and vice president of the Khobara Centre
Saeed Yafai, the chairman of the executive bureau of the consultancy Forum of Southerners in Sanaa