Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi[a] (born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former military officer who served as the secondpresident of Yemen from 2012 until his resignation in 2022. He previously served as the second vice president of Yemen from 1994 to 2012 under PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh.
Hadi was previously thefield marshal of theYemeni Armed Forces.[5] Between 4 June and 23 September 2011, Hadi was the Acting-president of Yemen while Ali Abdullah Saleh was undergoing medical treatment inSaudi Arabia following an attack on the presidential palace during the2011 Yemeni uprising.[6] On 23 November, he became Acting President again, after Saleh moved into a non-active role pending thepresidential election "in return for immunity from prosecution". Hadi was "expected to form a national unity government and also call for early presidential elections within 90 days" while Saleh continued to serve as president in name only.[7]
Mansour Hadi was chosen as a president for a two-year transitional period on21 February by Yemen's political factions, in an election where he was the sole consensus candidate, although the election was boycotted by Houthis in the north andSouthern Secessionists in the south of the country. Hadi's mandate was extended for another year in January 2014.[8] According to pro-Houthi media outlet SABA, Hadi remained in power after the expiration of his mandate.[9]
On 22 January 2015, he was forced to resign by theHouthis in the midst of mass protest against his decision to raise the fuel subsidies and due to dissatisfaction with the outcome of the 2011 revolution. Subsequently, the Houthis and the supporters of Saleh seized the presidential palace and placed Hadi under house arrest. The Houthis named aRevolutionary Committee to assume the powers of the presidency, as well as unify with theGeneral People's Congress, Hadi's own political party.[10][11][12] A month later, Hadi escaped to his hometown ofAden, rescinded his resignation, and denounced theHouthi takeover. He arrived inRiyadh the next day, as a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabiaintervened in support of his government.[13] He returned to Aden in September 2015, as Saudi-backed government forces recaptured the city.[14] In late 2017, he was reportedly residing in Riyadh underhouse arrest.[15]
In 2022, Hadi stepped down and transferred executive authority to thePresidential Leadership Council, withRashad al-Alimi as its chairman, which would seek a political solution toYemen's civil war.[5] This came amid a broader push for peace with Saudi Arabia.[16] Multiple sources in the Saudi and Yemeni governments alleged that he had been forced to cede power by the Saudis.[17][18][19]
Young Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi during his service as a captain in the army ofSouth Yemen, around 1972.
Hadi was born on 1 September 1945 in Thukain, Al Wade'a District,Abyan, a southern Yemeni governorate.[20] He graduated from a military academy in theFederation of South Arabia in 1966.[21] In 1966, he graduated after receiving a military scholarship to study in Britain, but was not able to attend, as he did not speakEnglish.[20]
Hadi played a low-profile role during theAden Emergency. Following the independence of South Yemen, he rose to prominence in the new military, reaching the rank of Major General.[21]
Hadi was the sole candidate in the presidential election that was held on 21 February 2012. His candidacy was backed by the ruling party, as well as by the parliamentary opposition. The Electoral Commission reported that 65 percent of registered voters in Yemen voted during the election. Hadi won with 100% of the vote and took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25 February 2012.[23] He was formally inaugurated as the President of Yemen on 27 February 2012, when Saleh resigned from the presidency and formally ceded power to Hadi.[24]
In March 2013 theNational Dialogue Conference was conceived as a core part of the transition process and is intended to bring together Yemen's diverse political and demographic groups to address critical issues.[25] In January 2014, Hadi pushed delegates at the conference to break a deadlock on key issues and bring the talks to an overdue close. When those in attendance finally agreed on a final few points, he launched into an impassioned speech that led to a spike in his popularity. It was agreed that Yemen would shift to afederal model of government in the future, a move which has been proposed and forcefully backed by Hadi.[26] For many Yemenis, particularly in northwestern Yemen, this decentralization was less attractive. This mountainous region is the poorest of Yemen and decentralization would mean that it would receive less money from the central government. Relevant here is that the overwhelming majority of Yemen's population has resided in this area for many years.[27] Indeed, the 'decentralization' of Yemen along the lines proposed by the Saudi-imposed Hadi regime threatened Yemen's long-term economic and political independence; scholar Isa Blumi points out that "To any rational observer, the idea of developing Yemen into six disproportionate regions with enormous autonomy was a blatant effort to benefit foreign interests and subdue the rebellious populations through poverty and administrative obscurity."[27] Indeed, if the Saudi-American decentralization 'road map to peace' is implemented, Yemen's oil wealth would be confined almost entirely to the provinces of Hadhramawt and Saba', Yemen's two least populated provinces.[28] Blumi goes on to point out that "This would make bribing the few thousands of eligible 'residents' with a tiny portion of the oil revenue (no longer flowing to the central state) easy, while creating an enormous windfall for those hoping to steal Yemen's wealth."[28] They also didn't like that the new regional borders would rob them of access to the sea.
Hadi meets U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry, 29 July 2013.
In a move to unify theArmed Forces of Yemen which suffered from split since the Yemeni Revolution, Hadi issued Presidentialdecree No.104 December 2012 reorganizing the Military into five main branches: Air Force, Army (Ground Force), Navy and Coastal Defense, Border Troops and Strategic Reserve Forces, which includes the Special Operation Command, the Missile Defense Command and the Presidential Protective Forces. The Strategic Reserve Forces replaces theRepublican Guard.[29]
From his early days in office, Hadi advocated fightingAl-Qaeda as an important goal. In a meeting with BritishForeign Secretary,William Hague in Hadi said, "We intend to confront terrorism with full force and whatever the matter we will pursue it to the very last hiding place".[30]
The Yemeni military had suffered from sharp divisions since Major GeneralAli Mohsen Al-Ahmar defected in late March 2011 amid protests demanding the ouster of Hadi's predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The military protests extended to theRepublican Guard based in the south ofSana'a when dozens from the Fourth Brigade closed down southern entrances to the capital city and demanded the firing of the brigade's commander, Mohammad Al-Arar, and his general staff.[30]
In an interview in September 2012 given toThe Washington Post, Hadi warned that his country, still reeling from the popular uprising that ousted Saleh, risked a descent into a civil war "worse than Afghanistan" should an upcoming months-long national dialogue fail to resolve the state's deep political and societal rifts. He also said that Yemen was facing "three undeclared wars" conducted byal Qaeda,pirates in theGulf of Aden, andHouthi rebels in the north, and thatIran was supporting these adversaries indirectly without giving further details.[31]
Houthis, on their side, complained of murder attacks on their delegates to the NDC.[32]
In response to the murder of the Saudi journalistJamal Khashoggi after visiting a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Hadi said that the "cheap political and media targeting of Saudi Arabia will not deter it from continuing its leading role in the Arab and Islamic worlds."[33]
Hadi and John Kerry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 7 May 2015
Hadi was forced to agree to a power-sharing deal after thefall of Sana'a to the rebel umbrella organization Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, in September 2014. The Houthis refused to participate in the "unity government", although they continued to occupy key positions and buildings inSana'a and hold territory throughout northern Yemen. Hadi was further humiliated when theGeneral People's Congress ousted him as its leader and rejected his cabinet choices on 8 November 2014.[34] It is important to note that the Houthis' pretext for entering Sana'a and deposing Hadi was to reverse an apparent breach of the Hadi government's mandate by unilaterally declaring an extension of its power beyond the two-year intermediary period actually set by the GCC and the United States.[35] They also accused the president of seeking to bypass a power-sharing deal signed when they seized Sana'a in September, and said they were working to protect state institutions from corrupt civil servants and officers trying to plunder state property.[36]
Three days after Hadi's resignation (21 January 2015), the Houthis took over the presidential palace.[37] Hadi and Prime MinisterKhaled Bahah tendered their resignations to parliament which reportedly refused to accept them.[38] Then the Yemeni cabinet was dissolved.[39] Hadi and his former ministers remained under virtual house arrest after their resignations.[40]
United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon called for Hadi's reinstatement after theHouthis installed themselves as the interim government in February 2015.[40][41] According to Houthi-controlled state media, Hadi reaffirmed on 8 February that his resignation was final and could not be withdrawn.[42]
However, after leaving Sana'a and traveling to his hometown ofAden on 21 February, Hadi declared that the actions taken by the Houthis since 21 September were unconstitutional and invalid.[43][44]
On 25 March 2017 a court in the Houthi-controlledSana'a sentenced Hadi and six other government officials todeath in absentia for "high treason", which meant "incitement and assistance" to Saudi Arabia and its allies."[46][47] The sentence was announced by the Houthi-controlledSaba News Agency.[46]
On 7 April 2022, Hadi announced in a televised speech that he was resigning from office, dismissingvice-presidentAli Mohsen al-Ahmar and transferring power to the newly formed eight membersPresidential Leadership Council chaired byRashad al-Alimi. He also said that the council was tasked with negotiating with the Houthi rebels to agree to a permanent ceasefire.[48][49] The presidential council's leader had close ties with Saudi Arabia, and some of Yemen's other political groups, including the Islah party.[50] Officials from Saudi Arabia and Yemen claimed that Hadi was pushed by Riyadh to give up his power to the presidential council. Hadi received a written decree from Saudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman to transfer his authority to the council. According to Prince Mohammed the decision was approved by other Yemeni leaders. Hadi was also threatened by Saudi officials using the evidence of corruption allegedly committed by him.
Following his decision to step down, he was kept under a house arrest in his Riyadh residence and not allowed to communicate with anyone. All these claims were denied by Saudi Arabia.[51]
^abGhobari, Mohamed (7 April 2022)."Yemen president sacks deputy, delegates presidential powers to council".Reuters.Aden.Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved7 April 2022.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.
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