Alwaght- Yesterday the Yemeni capital Sana'a witnessed the largest popular rally in the history of the modern-day Yemen as millions took to the Al Sabeen Square in the heart of the capital, proving that August 21 wouldn't be recorded a normal day in the Yemeni calendar.
The unprecedented rally in the country has laid the foundation of a new stage that would appear in the upcoming days. The public presence has provided a full popular support and cover for all of the steps recently taken by the Yemeni political forces to continue confronting the Saudi aggression or what Riyadh calls the Operation Decisive Storm.
The significance of turnout is not just about the number of people who attended the rally or the commitment of all of the Yemenis to the national flag but it is about start of a new stage that is almost unprecedented either in Yemen or in other Arab countries. Parties of all kind were present in the huge gathering: the religious, pan-Arabist, and secular parties, as well as the Southern Movement. All these were present to make what was branded as the Al Sabeen epic. The presence was not limited to these parties as the key players on the ground, namely Ansarullah and General People's Congress, were present.
The historical popular turnout with a diversity of sides has carried a set of messages for different directions. The message aimed at saying that the only legitimacy is people.
Yemenis' mass rally has sent many signals to the Saudi Arabia, its allies and international community that six strongest ones can be categorized as following:
1- In addition to the parliamentary and party legitimacy, the big popular presence in the Yemeni capital granted a popular legitimacy to the newly founded administrative body, the Supreme Political Council. In fact, the legitimacy is also granted to any parliament or government that would be formed in next steps by the Supreme Political Council. Saleh Ali al-Sammad, the president of the Supreme Political Council, during his address of millions of demonstrators, said the rally suggested that he will be open-handed in forming the national unity government and to "fill the political vacuum and face the challenges of the present time in which our nation is grappling with a brutal aggression".
2- If filed superiority is the most obvious factor in being in control during the negotiations, then the popular legitimacy is the boldest matter for shaping the future of Yemen. The power on the ground has been supported by people-granted legitimacy since the first days of the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen. But the power on the ground was displayed in its best form Yesterday in Al Sabeen Square.
3- The party and popular diversity have nullified all of the Saudi propaganda that urges sectarianism and ethnicism and is full of false claims about the relations between what they brand “the coup plotters", Ansarullah, and the General People's Congress. All these parties along with an array of other political parties and movements including the South Movement, the secular and religious movements, unions, the civil institutions, and the women movements have shown potentials for peaceful co-existence under the national unity and without any foreign intervention.
4- Yemenis called on the region and the world to respect their demands and decisions and accede to the "Al Sabeen Square equation. The UN Security Council now has no choice but yielding to the popular legitimacy rather than the Saudi money-given legitimacy. The president of the Supreme Political Council said that “our hands are extended not in surrender but in peace with the entire world, excluding the Zionist regime," referring to Israel.
5- Without doubt Saudi Arabia and its allies were the greatest losers in yesterday's million rally because the Yemen's refuges president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Had has no popularity among Yemenis. Actually, his popular removal comes after he was removed by the parliament. What makes the situation critical for Saudi Arabia is that the new authority in Yemen received approval from the people in an open referendum while Riyadh’s position is weakened internationally as the international aid organization Doctors Without Border evacuated its teams from six hospitals in northern Yemen after the Saudi fighter jets carried out airstrikes at one of the hospitals five times in a row. Another blow to Riyadh was received by the kingdom after the US announced that it is pulling out its military advisors who were contributing to coordination for air raids in Yemen.
6- The policy of strategic tolerance has proven its success afresh as it stripped Saudi Arabia of its allies. The US withdrawal would spread to the UAE as ally of Riyadh. The US think tank Stratfor that specializes in security, military, and strategic studies in a report has expected that the UAE would withdraw from anti-Yemeni campaign to leave Saudi Arabia alone.
Saudi Arabia had been dealt a painful blow, and Yemen has moved into a new period in which the head of the Supreme Political Council has left the door open for all of those who respect the choices of the Yemenis who have demonstrated their glory on the ground. By their united voice the Yemenis introduced a new equation in their rally yesterday: “in our country the word is for us."
