In a lengthy interview, MP Hashed stated: “Fighting injustice requires mobilization, and the will to fight corruption has become stronger than the political will.”
Ahmed Saif Hashed is a unique and prominent figure on the Yemeni political scene. He rejects partisan alliances and dreams of a homeland for all. In an exclusive interview with the Al-Naqqar network, MP Hashed analyzes the current situation in the country, its institutions, and Parliament in particular, under a power he describes as fearful, apprehensive, and unstable. In this interview, Judge Hashed discusses the last vestiges of the Constitution and the corruption that characterizes Yemeni life.
– We tried to establish a framework for protecting civil rights to monitor cases of enforced disappearances, but our efforts were in vain.
– I hope that Mohammed al-Muqaleh will reconsider his decision and become active on social media again.
– We must mobilize against injustice and the erosion of the meager constitutional, legal, and institutional rights that remain to us.
– The House of Representatives, its leadership, and its secretariat suffer from a fundamental dysfunction.
In Parliament, we are victims of blackmail, usurpation, and confiscation of our oversight and financial rights. Things that shouldn’t be passed are being passed.
Our parliamentary committee on freedoms and human rights operates with the permission of the security and intelligence services.
The de facto power in Sana’a systematically excludes Parliament and the government from many of the outcomes of its negotiations with Saudi Arabia.
We live in a deplorable situation and a distorted reality, characterized by the absence or suppression of institutions.
Indicators suggest that the power in Sana’a intends to silence the last remaining critical voices in the country.
Corruption is deeply rooted and is now stronger than political will.
In Sana’a, there is no state, and the three branches of government are merely a facade. Their reality is purely formal and decorative.
The authorities in Sana’a consider any human rights or political organization a threat to them and their repressive practices. Al-Naqqar: Why has the Sanaa Parliament lost its ability to oversee and hold the government accountable?
Hashid: There is a fundamental flaw within the Council, its leadership, and its general secretariat, a flaw that has steadily worsened until it has become a veritable disaster. Simultaneously, its oversight role has declined consistently, to the point of almost disappearing.
Al-Naqqar: How could the Parliament and its leadership have been managed from the outside, thus creating this fundamental flaw, as you describe it?
Hashid: The Council’s leadership was established and maintained in power through flawed political agreements, at the expense of the very foundations of democracy, and previously, in disregard of constitutional and legal texts. This leadership has become increasingly subservient to a hidden power that has exerted extreme control and manipulation over the Council’s authority and independence, nullifying the little room for maneuver it had left and transforming it into a docile and easily manipulated instrument to serve the desires and will of this power.
Another obstacle, or rather another flaw, has developed within the Council’s general secretariat, imposed from the outside and without its participation. This obstacle has morphed into a kind of handicap, which the Council tolerates through its acquiescence and acceptance. The Council’s inherent weakness only exacerbates the situation. All of this is at the expense of the Council’s effectiveness and its oversight role. The inability to finalize its financial statements for years is just one manifestation of this persistent dysfunction and decline.
The illegitimate union between the Speaker’s Office and the General Secretariat, both imposed from above, has created a distorted and illegitimate relationship, giving rise to a monstrous and deformed entity. This has been at the expense of the oversight role entrusted to the Council. Consequently, those who cannot control themselves cannot control others.
Al-Naqqar: Who is responsible for this constitutional chaos that undermines the House of Representatives and its legislative and oversight functions?
Hashid: This erosion, or rather the disappearance, of the little oversight role that remains in the Council is primarily attributable to the dominant power that has exerted its control and authority over it. Next come the Speaker’s Office, then the General Secretariat, and finally, the members themselves, who, accustomed to obedience and submission, have relinquished the little control they had left and which could have been preserved. As a result, the Council retains only a superficial and illusory role.
One of the main reasons for the erosion of the Council’s remaining oversight role is that entities holding power…