Makeen Al-Awjri
And Mazen Fares
In April 7, 2022, the formation of a presidential leadership council was surprisingly announced with the mandate to manage power in Yemen and remove President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi from the political scene after a decade in office.
Hadi, who has lived in the Saudi capital Riyadh for seven years, announced in a speech broadcast on the state television, an "irreversible" delegation of all his powers to a presidential council, comprising a president and seven members.
The Presidential Leadership Council is headed by: Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, the former interior minister, an experienced politician and an old security man, described by the media as one of the Saudi men in Yemen. In addition to seven other members, all of them are against the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), which controls the capital, Sana'a, and a number of the country's governorates.
The council was formed and announced from Riyadh, after days of consultations sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which included about 500 Yemeni figures (military, security, political and social) to unite the Yemeni factions within the framework of the Saudi-led military coalition to fight the Houthis.
In March 2015, the Saudi-led military coalition intervened at the request of former President Hadi, who fled Sanaa to Aden in late February of the same year, before moving to Riyadh after the Houthis took control of the southern city, which later turned into the temporary capital of the internationally recognized government.
Since then, the coalition has been working to restore the rest of the areas under the control of the Houthis, who represent the de facto authority in the north, but to no avail. This made the coalition fed up and put it in a critical military node.
The newly formed council in Riyadh is mandated to undertake the tasks of managing the state politically, militarily and security throughout the transitional period. However, the establishment decision to transfer power did not specify the time frame for the council’s term, and linked it only to “achieving complete peace in all parts of the country; or when general elections are held in accordance with the new constitution and the inauguration of the new president of the republic".
The war, which is entering its eighth year in Yemen, has killed more than 377,000 people, directly or indirectly, according to the United Nations, which describes the crisis in the country as the worst in the world.
History of the Presidential Councils
Over the course of six decades, six presidential councils have been formed in Yemen. Most of them were doomed to failure; which is attributed to the lack of clear mechanisms and visions that ensure the country emerges from the crucible of the accompanying crises.
On September 27, 1962, the first presidential council consisting of eight military commanders was formed, led by the first president of the nascent republic, Abdullah al-Sallal, under the name "The Sovereignty Council", but soon another council was announced in April of 1963, but the divisions among the forces in that era led to the establishment of three successive presidential councils headed by Al-Sallal.
In November 1967, power in the north passed to Abdul Rahman Al-Eryani, who announced the formation of a presidential council under his leadership, and it distinguished - to some extent - from its predecessors in terms of managing the phase and making decisions, but it was not spared from the challenges of that period.
In the midst of political strife and the continuation of the civil war, an amendment was made to the Council in 1970, by adding two officers from the republican forces and another person close to the Imamate, and in December of the same year, the first permanent constitution of Yemen was adopted, which stipulated the selection of a presidential council by the Shura Council, and as a result, the first Presidential Council was formed in April 1971.
In June 1974, Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim al-Hamdi assumed the presidency of northern Yemen, through a bloodless coup against Judge Abdul Rahman al-Iryani. After that, Al-Hamdi announced the formation of the General Command of the Armed Forces under his leadership. However, in April 1975, Al-Hamdi formed a new presidential council that continued his leadership until he was assassinated in October 1977.
In April 1977, the presidency of the country passed to Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Al-Ghashmi, and the council that was formed during the rule of Al-Hamdi continued until its abolition in January 1978, by a collective decision of its members, and then two councils were formed; One of them is in the transitional phase following the assassination of al-Ghashmi in June 1978, and another council was called the People's Assembly by which Ali Abdullah Saleh was elected as a president of North Yemen in July of the same year.
In southern Yemen - the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen at the time - the first and last presidential council was formed on June 22, 1969, with the aim of ending divisions and creating balances between the governorates of the south. Although the only presidential council included five members from different southern regions, but it did not witness any form of stability throughout its duration.
Further, Yemen witnessed the most famous Presidential Council was formed on May 22, 1990, when the leadership of North and South Yemen agreed to declare unity of the country, by forming a Presidential Council consisting of five members who were elected in a joint session of the parliaments of the two parts. Nonetheless, the council has witnessed major divisions between the People Congregation and Islah parties on the one hand, and the Yemeni Socialist Party on the other hand. Consequently, this precipitated the council’s collapse in April 1994, as a result of the outbreak of war between the partners in the Unity Agreement, and following the entry of Saleh’s forces into Aden, after which president Ali Abdullah Saleh soley led Yemen for 33 years.
The leadership Council mandate
The newly formed council in Riyadh will assume the tasks of managing the state, politically, militarily and security-wise, throughout the transitional period. The decision to transfer power did not specify the time frame for the parliament’s term, linking it only to “the realization of complete peace in all parts of the country, or when general elections are held in accordance with the new constitution and the inauguration of the new president of the republic.”
Three consultative, legal, and economic teams were also formed, comprising of 75 people (leaders, members of political parties, parliamentarians, and civil society actors), which are at the core of their tasks: uniting national forces, formulating a mechanism regulating the council's work, and developing plans for economic and financial reforms.
As for taking decisions, the President of the Presidential Council is not entitled to issue any decision without the consent of the council members or a majority vote.
The distribution of tasks and powers in the new council and the president's inability to take decisions alone is a feature that has been absent in most of the presidential councils that were formed in the history of Yemen. Legally, the transfer of power to the Presidential Council was based on the powers granted to the president under the constitution, and on the Gulf initiative and its executive mechanism.
However, critics of this step consider it “illegal” and has nothing to do with the Yemeni constitution, which stipulates in Article No. 124 that the President of the Republic is not given the power to delegate his full powers to others. “In the event that the position of the President of the Republic becomes vacant, he shall assume the duties of the presidency for a period not exceeding sixty days, and in the event that the position of the President and Vice President of the Republic together becomes vacant, he shall assume the presidency temporarily,” according to an expert in international and constitutional law, Muhammad Ali Al-Saqqaf.
Reactions to the Council
The Presidential Council was welcomed by the UN Security Council, which considered it as an "important step towards stability and a comprehensive political settlement." The United Nations expressed its readiness to work with the Council and the Yemeni parties, to reach a "permanent cease-fire and a sustainable, comprehensive and negotiated settlement of the Yemeni conflict."
On the other hand, as for the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), it rejected the step of forming the council; considered it a "desperate attempt to rearrange the ranks of the (pro-government) parties to push them towards further escalation," according to its spokesman, Mohammad Abd al-Sallam..
However, this position of the group later changed, as it implicitly announced, through Hussein Al-Ezzi, who holds the position of Deputy Foreign Minister in the (unrecognized) Houthi government, the acceptance of dialogue with the Presidential Council.
In a series of tweets, Al-Ezzi said that negotiating with (this) council will be conditional on what he described as: "A Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue away from outside interference and bullying abroad."
Context of the formation of the council
The need for the formation of the council appears necessary for the Arab coalition, with the aim of uniting the anti-Houthi forces and ending the state of division in their ranks that reached its climax during the last three years of the rule of former President Hadi, and as a result, the government lost some strategic areas to the Houthis.
As for the general situation, the need to create the council appears critical for the coalition and the local forces affiliated with it, as well - to resolve issues that have been stuck for years, foremost of which are the absent of baic services and the collapsed economy.
The context in which the Presidential Council was formed suggests a regional and international desire for a political solution to end the war, which is entering its eighth year.
To confirm this desire, the decision to transfer power included a stipulation that the Presidential Leadership Council would negotiate with the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) to maintain a permanent ceasefire throughout the republic, and sit at the negotiating table to reach a political solution.
Moreover, there were clear indications in Rashad Al-Alimi's speech that the Presidential Council is "a council of peace, but it is also a council of defense, strength and unity, whose mission is to defend the sovereignty of the country and protect the citizens," according to Al-Alimi.
The announcement of the formation of the Council was preceded by steps to stop the escalation by the announcement of the United Nations on the first of this April of a truce for a period of two months, agreed upon by the parties to the conflict for the first time in seven years.
Comparison
Regarding the reality of the new Presidential Council and its predecessors, Maysa Shuja al-Din, a researcher at the Sana’a Center for Studies (Yemeni non-governmental organization), says that the presidential councils in Yemen were used by Yemenis as a formula for a consensual political solution during the conflict or transitional periods.
She explained, in the context of her statement to "Khuyut", that "the difference between the newly formed council with Gulf support and the previous councils is the unprecedented war going on in the country, especially in light of the presence of military factions with different goals, whose leaders have become governed through their access to the Presidential Council."
She considered this "as the reality of the situation created by the war, and this contributed to its recognition in light of the complete inability to change that reality," stressing the importance of finding formulas to deal with the situation that cannot lead to stability or peace, in the near future in Yemen.
Structure of the Council
Looking at the structure of the formation of the new Presidential Council, we find that it was designed to achieve a balance between loyalists to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Taking into account the demographic aspect; North and South.
Considering the characteristics of the council, it shall be noted that most of its members come from a military and tribal background; Five of them command more than 35 military brigades, spread along the western coast and southern governorates, all the way to Hadramout governorate, far east of the country, in addition to Marib governorate. While the President of the Presidential Council does not have - so far - a special military force on which he can rely; which observers see as a challenge that needs to be resolved by integrating all these forces, restructuring and redistributing them within the Ministries of Defense and Interior.
In this regard, Shuja al-Din says, "The head of the council has the least armed force, and he may not have it, while the rest of the council members have military powers."
Additionally, she believes that despite Al-Alimi having wide powers and great influences, he will not be able to monopolize the decision like most of the presidential councils established throughout the history of Yemen, which were only formal, and their presidents took over decision-making without taking into account the opinions of its members.
As for the balance of power among the members of the council, the researcher points out that the last council, which was formed in 1990 and continued until 1994 in Yemen, has a kind of military balance, represented by the possession of both "Ali Salem al-Beidh" as well as "Ali Abdullah Saleh" military powers.
From her point of view, the nature of the current presidential council is "unprecedented, in an extraordinary circumstance, and the criteria of previous councils cannot be applied to it."
Challenges
On April 18, the leadership of the Presidential Council returned to the city of Aden and was sworn in before Parliament, in the presence of a number of ambassadors of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the European Union and the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg.
With this return to the parliament, the residents under the administration of the recognized government pinned great hopes for improving the economic and security conditions and activating state institutions. However, an atmosphere of disappointment prevailed after the presidents of the House of Representatives and the Shura Council left Aden, along with some parliamentarians.
For the first time in more than two years, Parliament resumes its sessions, as it held three sessions, in one of which it voted on the state’s general budget for the year 2022, and referred it to a specialized committee for review; Further, it granted confidence to the government of Maeen Abdul-Malik, two years after its formation under the Riyadh Agreement.
Furthermore, a sub council was also delegated to lead the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission with the consensus of all political forces, and the Presidential Council approved this step. However, the economic and legal committees concerned with economic reform and organizing the regulation of the Council have not yet met.
It is worth mentioning that there are significant challenges lie ahead for the President of the Leadership Council; The most prominent of which is maintaining the council’s unity and cohesion, and its ability to persuade the Houthis to agree on a political solution or to return to military action if fails, which means that the situation may return to the scratch.
Thus, measuring the council’s success depends on its ability to undertake positive changes and implement the promises made by its president, Al Alimi, aimed at improving living conditions and public services, stabilizing currency prices and increasing exports.
