The Joint Telecommunications Company...a national necessity to end Houthi dominance and protect the citizen

The moves aimed at halting the agreement to establish a joint telecommunications company between the Yemeni Telecommunications Corporation and the UAE company NX have sparked widespread political and societal anger, as they serve the continued dominance of the terrorist Houthi militia, Iran’s arm in Yemen, over the telecommunications sector and deprive the state of significant financial resources.

In its meeting held on Monday, August 21, 2023, the Yemeni government approved a draft agreement to establish a joint Yemeni-Emirati telecommunications company to provide mobile phone and Internet services.

Governmental and political circles unanimously agreed on the importance of this step to liberate the telecommunications sector from the control of the Houthi militia.

The Supreme Committee for Sovereign and Local Revenue confirmed that this agreement is an "important step," and indicated that the establishment of this company will contribute to strengthening the state's resources, as it will add a strategic economic resource for the benefit of the public treasury and provide a modern, safe and reliable communications environment in various sectors.

While the Political Bureau of the National Resistance indicated, through the first deputy head of the office, Nasser Bagil, that the establishment of this company will contribute to protecting the citizen's privacy, supplying the public treasury, and stopping Houthi influence on security and revenues together.

However, members of parliament belonging to the Islah Party, and residing abroad with their families, do not see the positive aspect of this agreement, as they are not familiar with what is happening in the liberated areas as a result of the militias' control over the most important sectors of the state.

Their objection to the agreement, in their letter submitted to the Speaker of Parliament and from there to the Prime Minister, revealed the truth of their support for the legitimacy from which they receive their salaries, and confirmed their dependence on partisanship and their volunteerism to defend the interests of the Houthi militias, which know with certainty that the establishment of this company means the end of their control over the communications sector in the liberated areas.

The claims of patriotism, sovereignty, the constitution and the law that those who reject this agreement rant about, prompted the writer and activist Adonis Al-Dakhini to raise a question about the reason for the absence of Parliament and all other government bodies when MTN announced the sale of its branch in Yemen to the U company, away from the government, which did not learn about the sale deal except through... The media.

Al-Dukhini confirmed that the government camp paid a heavy price for the Houthi militias’ control over the communications sector, explaining that this sector allowed the same militias to spy and carry out many assassination operations targeting military leaders. It was and still is fully exposed to the militias.

He added, "The communications sector not only served the Houthi militias in espionage, but was an important resource that generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually for them," describing the government's approval of the draft agreement to establish the joint communications company as "a breakthrough."

He said, "The government went to sign an agreement to establish a telecommunications company, which protects the government camp from espionage, generates billions of riyals annually for the state treasury, and neutralizes one of the most important sectors for the Houthi militias. But expatriate parliamentarians became angry. The government camp needed it when the U company bypassed the government."

المصدر: نيوزيمن