{"id":896,"date":"2022-06-15T08:29:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T08:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/?p=896"},"modified":"2023-01-15T08:44:22","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T08:44:22","slug":"what-awaits-the-presidential-council-in-aden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/what-awaits-the-presidential-council-in-aden\/","title":{"rendered":"What Awaits the Presidential Council in Aden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commentary by Fahd Omer<\/strong><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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Editor\u2019s note: The author, a Yemeni researcher, is writing under a pseudonym for security reasons.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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The replacement of President Abdo Rabbu Mansour <\/span>Hadi with an eight-man presidential council was long-awaited by Yemenis both inside the country and in the diaspora. Bringing together the main factions within the anti-Houthi camp, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) quickly garnered inte<\/span>rnational support \u2013 the US, UK and United Nations Security Council welcomed the creation of the PLC, while the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, along with a number of European and Arab ambassadors, attended the swearing-in of the council in Aden on April 19.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in this new political landscape, the PLC\u2019s path to restoring peace and stability in Yemen is far from certain. In particular, the recent rise in suspected activity by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) portends a looming battle against terror and radicalism in the interim capital Aden. Meeting this challenge will be one of the first major tests for the PLC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Message of Unity<\/b><\/h3>\n

In public appearances, members of the PLC have sought to reiterate two main points: the forces represented in the council are in agreement on working toward a unified political vision for the post-Hadi era, and that its top priority must be pursuing a resolution to the conflict with the armed Houthi movement, either through negotiation or force of arms. In a televised address to the nation on the occasion of Eid, PLC President Rashad al-Alimi <\/span>pledged<\/span> <\/a>that<\/span><\/a> he will lead from inside the country and put Aden on the path to stability, development and renewed investment. Tareq Saleh, commander of the National Resistance Forces and a member of the PLC, reiterated a similar <\/span>message<\/span><\/a> on May 8, noting that the executive body is working \u201cin full harmony\u201d to restore state institutions, including a plan to rebuild infrastructure in Aden, and that the interim capital will serve as a model for security and stability to government-held areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

The upcoming anniversary of Yemen\u2019s unification on May 22 will be an early test of the message of unity put forward by the PLC. The Ministry of Civil Service and Insurance, headed by Abdelnasser al-Waly, has yet to declare the day a national holiday. Al-Waly, a member of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, stirred controversy in 2021 when he described the anniversary as marking the conquest of the south. The STC remains the most dominant military force in Aden, and the pro-STC local authorities have, in the past, <\/span>rejected<\/span> <\/a>resolutions<\/span><\/a> issued by other ministers. STC head Aiderous al-Zubaidi is now on the PLC. The ability of the council to avoid internal conflict and act toward a unified purpose will depend on whether its members and their respective backers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are able to reconcile divergent interests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Looming Threat in Aden\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Even if the members of the PLC remain united and work in harmony, the recent uptick in suspected AQAP activity in Aden and southern Yemen represents a major threat to stability in the interim capital and the ability of the PLC to fulfill its early promises of security and development. Local <\/span>media<\/span> reports<\/span><\/a> have documented increased AQAP recruitment and mobilization in neighboring Abyan governorate. On May 6, fighting between AQAP militants and Security Belt forces in Al-Dhalea resulted in the death of several high-ranking counter-terrorism officers. In Aden\u2019s Mualla district, a car bomb targeted the convoy of Major General Saleh Ali al-Dahrani on May 15.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AQAP\u2019s budding resurgence invokes memories of the years after Hadi first assumed power. In the period from 2012 to the start of the conflict, the group attacked military and security forces in Sana\u2019a and other governorates, stormed and <\/span>held<\/span><\/a> entire cities, and carried out dozens of assassinations of military and security officers, even <\/span>targeting<\/span><\/a> President Hadi.<\/span> The recurrence of similar levels of activity would undermine the PLC\u2019s ability to bring about much-needed reform. Recently reported acts of sabotage targeting power generation and distribution infrastructure in Aden and neighboring cities and a key oil pipeline in Shabwa may anticipate the battle that awaits the PLC, even before it can move to resolve the conflict with the Houthis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Re-Emergence of AQAP<\/b><\/h3>\n

The armed Houthi movement has <\/span>struck deals<\/span><\/a> with AQAP in the past, releasing most of its detained fighters when they took Sana\u2019a in September 2014. While reports of such deals may seem surprising given their conflicting ideologies, \u064fthe relationship between the <\/span>Houthis <\/span><\/a>and <\/span>northern tribes<\/span><\/a> with AQAP was established long before 2014. The spike in AQAP activity after Hadi became president, and its current resurgence, suggests that the Houthis, and perhaps the northern <\/span>Zaidi<\/span><\/a> tribes<\/span><\/a>, may have provided it with support. The Houthis and the political elites of the northern tribes have a long history of refusing to relinquish power to authorities from what they call \u201cLower Yemen,\u201d vowing, \u201c<\/span>Either we rule, or we destroy the unity of this country<\/span><\/a>.\u201d AQAP seems intent to reassert itself, as it did between 2012 and 2014. As this would, once again, serve the interests of the Houthis and their allies, it suggests the probability of collaboration is quite high.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Southern voices have also sought to link AQAP activities to the now-former vice president Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and the Islah party. After the signing of the Riyadh agreement in November 2019, the STC became a nominal partner in Hadi\u2019s government, but continued to <\/span>place responsibility<\/span><\/a> for suspected extremist attacks on their rivals, Islah and Al-Ahmar. This shifted somewhat following the STC\u2019s inclusion in the new leadership council: Al-Zubaidi <\/span>accused<\/span><\/a> the Houthis of supporting recent suspected AQAP attacks. However, an STC-appointed commander of counter-terrorism forces in Aden later <\/span>blamed Islah<\/span><\/a> as well. If such contradictory rhetoric continues, it may indicate that the GCC-led talks in Riyadh that led to the formation of the presidential council have ushered in a fragile, even cosmetic, alliance in the anti-Houthi camp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Attempts at Delegitimization<\/b><\/h3>\n

There are other attempts to undermine the new council as well. The PLC needs to monitor and react to baseless campaigns that accuse local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of exploiting Yemeni <\/span>women and girls<\/span><\/a>. Such disinformation campaigns are a common tactic of insurgent groups, as they serve multiple purposes in undermining state authority. First, the campaign provides a pretext for retaliatory extremist activity in Aden and its environs. Second, successfully targeting NGOs and civil society organizations would cast the PLC as weak and ineffective, and incapable of protecting its constituents. Third, if the PLC is unable to provide adequate protection, it could be blamed for this failure, and its supporters could seek protection elsewhere. Lastly, the targeting of NGOs could limit their ability to operate effectively or even drive them from the area. The outsize impact of humanitarian aid to Yemen\u2019s wartime economy would make such a retreat especially damaging. The PLC might then be blamed for an intensification of the country\u2019s humanitarian crisis. NGOs have already tightened their security measures and informed their employees to remain alert, but the PLC must not underestimate the consequences of inaction. The knock-on effects of an insufficient response could be extremely serious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harsh Realities and Few Options<\/b><\/h3>\n

It is difficult to conceptualize what options the PLC has to deal with such a predicament. Instead of waiting for AQAP to undertake operations in Aden, it should show it has the power to stand firm against such threats. This is easier said than done. In Abyan, the deep divisions between the STC forces in Sheikh Salem and pro-Hadi presidential guards in Shoqra may undermine coordination against AQAP. It may not even be possible to incentivize the presidential guards to abide by the commands of the PLC or Ministry of Defense without Hadi\u2019s support. Another option for the PLC would be relying on the Giants Brigades, which successfully pushed Houthi forces out of Shabwa in early January. However, deploying them on multiple fronts risks exhausting these forces and exposing them to heavy losses. It may be more prudent to save the Giants Brigades to defend against the Houthis as the current truce expires, should efforts to end the conflict through negotiation fail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pressing need to restructure and unite its various military and security forces puts PLC in a precarious position. PLC President Rashad al-Alimi has <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a> that the unification of these forces is the base that will enable the government to overcome current challenges and threats and restore the state and its institutions. To realize this, Al-Alimi will need the full backing of\u00a0 Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Otherwise, efforts at reorganization could devolve into recrimination and defection, as occurred after the signing of the Riyadh agreement in November 2019. If the PLC fails to sense the danger from an active AQAP and proactively counter the group, the consequences for the new leadership will be dire.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Sana\u2019a Center for Strategic Studies<\/b>\u00a0is an independent think-tank that seeks to foster change through knowledge production with a focus on Yemen and the surrounding region.\u00a0The Center\u2019s publications and programs, offered in both Arabic and English, cover diplomatic, political, social, economic, military, security, humanitarian and human rights related developments, aiming to impact policy locally, regionally, and internationally.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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The Yemen Peace Forum initiative is a track II youth and civil society platform facilitated by the Sana\u2019a Center and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This interactive initiative seeks to invest in building and empowering the next generation of Yemeni youth and civil society actors and to engage them in critical national issues. Building on the Sana\u2019a Center\u2019s core goal of producing knowledge by local voices, this initiative seeks to develop and invest in young policy analysts and writers across Yemen.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The replacement of President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi with an eight-man presidential council was long-awaited by Yemenis both inside the country and in the diaspora. Bringing together the main factions within the anti-Houthi camp, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) quickly garnered international support \u2013 the US, UK and United Nations Security Council welcomed the creation of the PLC, while the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, along with a number of European and Arab ambassadors, attended the swearing-in of the council in Aden on April 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanaacenter.org\/ypf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}