UN mulls plan to divide Yemen into two-region federation

The UN Security Council is reportedly working on a plan to transform Yemen into a two-region federation as part of its efforts to help political transition in the impoverished country.

Yemeni diplomats have complied and submitted comprehensive reports to the Security Council concerning growing discontent within various political factions, including the Shia Houthi Ansarullah movement, over a Yemeni government plan introduced in February this year to divide the country into six regions, Arabic-language newspaper, al-Hadath, reported on Monday.

Politicians in southern Yemen are opposed to the plan. They say four provinces in the north would have more power than the two in the south.

The report, citing unnamed diplomats, added that the UN body is planning to announce its final decision on Yemen’s new structure sometime in the middle of 2015, and vote on creation of a federal state of two regions.

The idea of creating a federal system has been a part of Yemen’s political transition, as the country is still reeling from the popular uprising that forced longtime dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, out of office in February 2012.

Yemen’s southern residents complain that they have been economically and politically marginalized by the central government in Sana’a.