Yemen’s president dismisses deputy, delegates presidential authority to council.

Yemen’s president said on Thursday that Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has been fired and that he has transferred his responsibilities to a presidential council that would oversee the country’s administration.

 

According to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the new council will take over the functions of both the president and his deputy.

 

During what it refers to as a ‘transitional period,’ the new council will carry out political, military, and security functions for the Yemeni government.

 

Following the political instability of a 2011 revolt, Hadi was elected to a two-year term in 2012 to lead a democratic transition. However, in late 2014, the Iran-aligned Houthi militia took Sanaa, forcing Hadi to flee south and then to Saudi Arabia, where he remained as the internationally recognised government’s leader.

 

The decision, according to Hadi’s announcement, was made in accordance with a 2011 power transfer effort created by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in response to anti-government protests and political crises.

 

‘A Presidential Leadership Council will be constituted as a result of this declaration to finish the transitional period’s tasks. In accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism, I irreversibly delegate my complete powers to the Presidential Leadership Council,’ Hadi later stated, on Yemeni state television.

 

Yemen has been divided for seven years between an internationally recognised government led by Hadi and backed by Saudi Arabia, which is based in the southern city of Aden, and the Houthis, who are based in Sanaa.

 

Dismissed Vice-President al-Ahmar is a powerful army officer with political clout.

 

Rashad Al-Alimi, a security official who served as interior minister during Ali Abdullah Saleh’s presidency, will lead the leadership council, which would consist of a chair and seven deputy chairmen.

 

Saudi Arabia has backed Alimi, who was a close adviser to Hadi. He also has a tight relationship with the Islamist Islah party, which is the country’s most powerful political force.