Yemen Appoints Foreign Minister Bin Mubarak as Prime Minister

Facts

• Yemen's internationally recognized presidential council issued a decree Monday appointing Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak as the country's new prime minister, replacing Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, who had been in office since 2018.¹
• The Cabinet later took to social media to announce that Saeed will become an advisor to the Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).²
• No reason was given for this change, which comes amid mounting tensions in the Red Sea between Houthi rebels and the UK and US. Bin Mubarak, Yemen's former ambassador to the US and to the UN, gained prominence in 2015 when his kidnapping plunged the country into a political crisis.³
• The PLC was formed in April 2022 after then-Pres. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi transferred power to an eight-man body that gathers different factions within the anti-Houthi alliance, but its legitimacy has never been accepted by the Houthis amid claims that Hadi's powers had already expired.⁴
• A civil war between the Iran-aligned Shia Houthis and the Saudi-backed internationally recognized Sunni government has continued in Yemen since 2014, taking a heavy toll on Yemeni civilians and causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises⁵
• Though Houthi-Saudi talks to find a political solution to the conflict reportedly achieved positive results to revive a cease-fire, they have stalled since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Al Arabiya, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies, ⁵Global Conflict Tracker and ⁶TRT World.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by thearabweekly.com. The appointment of Bin Mubarak aims to appease donors to Yemen in the face of the Houthis' growing confidence within the region. The new prime minister is an enemy of the military group and a key figure in the establishment of the internationally recognized government, so his promotion allows a fresh opportunity to tackle continued domestic and international concerns.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Yemen Press Agency. This change in leadership is likely a response to the disastrous economic collapse recently seen in areas under the rule of the Saudi-led coalition puppet government. But Bin Mubarak has a history of corruption, so it's hard to foresee any positive outcome unless the pro-coalition authorities completely revise their failed policies.