The Full Statement Issued by Large-scale Mass Rallies of Hadramout on Anniversary of Southern Land Day 7/7

The cities of Hadramout Governorate, like "Al-Mukalla, Seiyun, Al-Shihr, Tarim, Al-Qatn, and Ghail Bawazir," witnessed large-scale mass rallies in response to the call made by the local leadership of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Hadramout Governorate in commemoration of the 29th anniversary of Southern Land Day, July 7.

In these mass rallies, a number of speeches were delivered by political and tribal leaders and civil society organizations, and they issued an important statement as follows:

 

Here is the full political statement of the mass rallies on Southern Land Day, 7/7/2023.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

All praise is for Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May the praise of Allah and His peace be on Prophet Muhammad [PBUH], his family, and Companions.

 

O our patient and steadfast public masses in Hadramout in particular and the South in general, peace, mercy, and the blessings of Allah be upon you all, and good evening.

Ladies and gentlemen, gracoius presence, it is said that the people of the South have passed the stage of festivals and large-scale rallies, through which they have achieved many gains in the past period, but at the same time we cannot neglect the memory of the black day of 7/7 and let it pass without reminding the worst stage that Hadramawt is living today is nothing but a result of what happened on the ill-fated day of 7/7 from the invasion of the South and the enforcing of the Yemeni occupation policy after that black day. This ill-approach, whose deadly effects still stand before us, and our public masses suffer from it in all aspects of their daily lives in Hadramout in particular and the South in general.

At this time, in which the forces of the Yemeni occupation and its tools are allied today to undermine the sacrifices of our people, we will not let a painful occasion such as the day of 7/7 pass without recalling in memory the ultimate sacrifices made by our youth on this painful anniversary over the past years. And as we remember this painful anniversary, we also recall the tragedies we are experiencing today on our land as the repercussions of that satanic alliance that brought together the influential forces of the tribe, the military, and the men of extremist religious ideology in the Arab Republic of Yemen. The alliance that brought them together to wage their dirty war against the civil project against the state and against the land, people, and identity of the South post-1994 war.

Those Yemeni forces allied against us in the South in the past are intended today to restore their position and role in Hadramout, an ill-position that ended and closed its spawned and sprouted up components by the blessed southern movement in the stage of its revolutionary vigor.

We, in the leadership of the STC in the governorate and in these mass-rallied places, warn those who would give an opportunity for these expendable and expired Yemeni tools to take over the local authority positions in Hadramout, and we remind you that these dirty tools will not have a foothold again in our lives in Hadramout. Just as they were buried in the past, they will be buried again if it is attempted to quicken the bones after they have decayed.

Our people in Hadramout have experienced the mismanagement of these Yemeni occupying forces in the public affairs throughout the years after 7/7, and today there are futile attempts to re-empower these corrupted agents to control our governorate and the fate of our people, and from here our masses declare that they will never let them get a chance to re-manage or re-embody their ill-managed period in Hadramout again, and we find it an opportunity here to demand the local authority to stop provoking our people by returning and recycling those who do not deserve to be in official positions in the executive bodies of the governorate.

In this regard, we call on the leadership of the STC, represented by President Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, to re-assess the matter of the feasibility of partnership in the power-sharing government, as the bet was made on the possibility of creating some balance through participation in the government to improve the level of public services provided to the people, but it turned out to be in vain, as evidenced by the fact that the suffering worsened and the citizens' lives changed from bad to worse, and the government has taken no measures in the interest and service of the citizens in the South.

Taking into account what has been said, we demand that the leadership of the STC take a decisive position within the framework of the government to be positively reflected in the standard of living of our people.

O mass rallies in this district and all districts of Hadramout, both Coast and Valley, with their overwhelming majority, proved their firm standing with the southern national project represented in restoring the state of the South with its new federal system. With this firm attitude, the Hadrami people reaffirmed that Hadhramaut is an integral part of the entity of the state of the South, which entered into a failed unification with the Arab Republic of Yemen, and thus the Hadrami people in all their activities and festival events have not only made ultimate sacrifices and spent every precious but also declared their free will that Hadhramaut has no way out of its miserable and catastrophic conditions except through the gate of the aspired new federal state of the South and not to become hostage to the Yemen gate.

This natural position of the masses of Hadhramaut disturbed those who did not want good for Hadhramaut. The war of starvation and the war of services that they put our people into its hell have not bent the will of our people to raise the white flag and surrender to their agendas, so they hatched and sprouted up gelatinous components claiming to represent the voice of Hadhrami people, thinking that by dividing Hadramaut from its southern depth, they could delay the legitimate entitlement of the Southern people to regain their state, land, and identity.

The bet of some in Hadramaut on undermining the confidence of the Hadrami in the STC is a losing bet by all standards.

Hadramaut is for all its people, and whoever lives today on its land is spreading the grudges of the past with a vengeful spirit and with abhorrent racial discrimination to the majority of the categories of our Hadramaut people; it does not contribute to building the present and future of Hadramaut as much as it lays foundations for societal tumult projects within the Hadhrami interior. Sedition will first burn the one who lit it, praying to Allah to protect Hadramaut and its people from the evil of sedition that has emerged, whether openly or secretly.

We, in the leadership of the STC in Hadramout, warn against playing with the card of tearing apart the fabric of Hadhramaut and dispersing its fighting forces as a start to weaken our just cause and engage our people in marginal and futile conflicts.

The stage that we live in today in Hadhramaut in particular and the South in general is, as described by President Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, a pivotal stage full of important events and challenges in the light of which the map of the future of our region will be drawn, which requires all of us to be as great as the challenges of these events and the size of the variables and challenges of the stage. 

We call on the countries of the Arab coalition, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to take into account, as they draw a map of their interests in the region, the will of the majority of our people in their legitimate right to restore their state after the failure of the unity project with the Yemeni Arab Republic and assist the entity of the South that contributes to maintaining stability and security in the South and the entire region.

The STC, through what its leaders have declared, and the steps that were recently accomplished in the Southern National Dialogue, reaffirms that the dialogue will definitely remain open to all without exception, whether southern components agree or disagree with it, and will prioritize the interests of the South, land, people, and cause without marginalization or exclusion.

On this basis, we, in the leadership of the STC in the governorate, extend our hands to everyone who is interested in the affairs of Hadramout, both the land and the human being, and open the door to dialogue with all with no exception.

We reiterate our continuous demand for ousting the remnants of the occupation from the forces of the first military division from the Valley and Desert of Hadhramaut and all the military camps whose presence accompanied the Yemeni occupation of our land on 7/7/1994 and enabling the Hadrami Elite Forces to extend their hand over all the soil of the Hadramout.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in attending this national event.

Glory and eternity to the blessed martyrs of the national cause of the South. 

And the flawless triumph for the South and its people

Peace, mercy, and the blessings of Allah be upon you all.

Al-Mukalla, Hadramout.

Friday, 7/7/2023