Aden, Yemen – Ahmed Omar bin Farid, a prominent leader in the Southern Transitional Council, called for a comprehensive popular referendum for the people of the South to determine their political future, giving them the choice between remaining within the framework of Yemeni unity or returning to the status of the independent state that existed before 1990. Bin Farid stressed that this approach represents “the only way” to find common ground for understanding and end the ongoing conflict.
Questions about “imposing unity by force”
In a post that sparked widespread interaction on the “X” platform, Ben Farid posed a fundamental question addressing the sharp divergence in positions between the North and the South, saying: “Why are the overwhelming majority of the people of the (North) even prepared to fight to impose unity by force on the South, while the overwhelming majority of the people of the (South) clearly reject unity with the North, and even struggle to get rid of it?”
Referendum: A fair and democratic solution
In response to those who doubted the extent of popular southern rejection of unity, Bin Farid challenged the other political parties to resort to the ballot box as the final arbiter, emphasizing the following points:
International supervision: The need to hold a transparent referendum supervised by international bodies to ensure the integrity of the results.
Rejecting coercion: He stressed that imposing unity “by force of arms or by force of politics” would not provide a sustainable solution, but would continue to fuel regional tension.
Knowing the true desire: Consider that whoever claims that the southern desire for independence is not valid must prove it by accepting the democratic process.
These statements come at a time when the region is witnessing intense political activity, which is bringing the southern issue back into focus as a key element in any comprehensive settlement of the Yemeni conflict.
