President of Yemen hands over his presidential powers to council

Following the news of a truce that means the first nationwide cessation of hostilities since 2016, President Hadi announced his resignation from his role as President of Yemen, as well as the dismissal of his Vice-President.

On Thursday 7, April, Yemen’s President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced that he had dismissed Vice president Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar and handed over his own presidential powers to a council who will now be in charge of Yemen. This new presidential body will oversee political, military and security duties for Yemen during an indefinite time they are calling a “transitional period”.

Speaking on Yemeni state TV Hadi said: “With this declaration a Presidential Leadership Council shall be established to complete the implementation of the tasks of the transitional period. I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism”.

The statement claimed that the move followed a 2011 power transferal initiative that was created by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which  consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, after antigovernment protests and a political crisis.

The news follows a two-month truce across Yemen, brokered by the U.N. that was announced on Saturday and is the first nationwide cessation of hostilities since 2016.

This previous period of conflict divided Yemen with President Hadi leading an internationally recognised government in the southern city of Aden, which was also backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Iran-aligned Houthi group located in Sanaa.

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