Why the Houthis did not monopolize power?

So why have the Houthis chosen to enter into an agreement with the coalition government, instead of deposing the state and claiming total political and institutional control?

Is it because the Houthis feel they will encounter much resistance from the military and officials, is it that the Houthis do not feel competent enough to take on Yemen’s many crises, or more simply is it that the Houthis intends to allow Yemenis to make their own decisions?

Against all odds and to the surprise of many officials and political analysts, the Houthis have managed overt the past week to score some incredible victories against the state apparatus, de facto defeating Al Islah. 

Within weeks of political and popular pressure the Houthis organized the resignation of former Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa and imposed an agreement onto President Hadi which saw the implementations of popular reforms – oil subsidies and change in government.

While many expected that the military would engage the Houthis as they proceed to take over government offices inside the capital we saw instead the state security apparatus cave in before the Zaidi militants without much of a fight. Safe from pockets of resistance here and there, Sana’a quite literally handed itself over to the Houthis.

The Interior Ministry went as far as issue a statement calling on all policemen and officers to consider the Houthis as “the friends of the police”, forbidding anyone to engage them.

Following decades of an organized state oppression the Houthis have achieved an incredible feat. Never since 1962 and the fall of the monarchy have Zaidis rose so high.

Abdel-Malek Al Houthis, the leader of the movement, has been very clear he seeks not to rule but to empower Yemenis and allow them to make their own choices; a break from decades of servitudes.

The Houthis have proven by willingly promoting political cooperation that they intend to build a stronger and more cohesive Yemen, on the basis of political partnership as opposed to rivalry.

But as Islamists are promoting violence across Yemen’s provinces Yemen could yet see another explosion in violence.