Yemen's Hadi government sworn in after Saudi brokered power sharing deal

Yemen’s embattled President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has sworn in a new government that was formed after a power-sharing deal brokered by Saudi Arabia last year. He had announced the formation of a power-sharing government, in accordance with the terms of the Riyadh Agreement jointly signed with the Southern Transitional Council (STC). The 24-member cabinet was sworn in during a ceremony held on Saturday in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where Hadi currently is. 

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The new government, headed by Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik, represents Yemen’s northern and southern areas. It includes five members of the separatist STC as part of a bid to end a power struggle between Hadi loyalists and the secessionists. The formation of the government as part of the Saudi Arabia-backed Riyadh Agreement, signed between the Yemeni government and the STC in November 2019 to seek an end to military clashes between forces of both parties, as per Al Jazeera reports. 

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President Hadi called on the new government to act as a team and prioritize addressing the impoverished country’s economic woes.

'let your main concern be first and foremost the country'

“You are coming from different blocs and geographical areas, but let your main concern be first and foremost the country and its citizens,” Hadi told the members of the government. 

“We are in a new stage and depend on you to act as one team,” he added, according to Yemen’s state news agency Saba.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since a Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened there in March 2015 to restore the government removed from power in the capital Sanaa by the Houthi rebel movement in late 2014.

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The STC, which was formed in 2017, is backed by the United Arab Emirates, while Hadi’s government is backed by Saudi Arabia. Both are part of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed the lives of 233,000 people.

The conflict has also pushed the impoverished Arab country to the brink of famine and devastated its health facilities.

On December 18, the President, in exile in Saudi Arabia, announced a Cabinet reshuffle in a major step toward closing a dangerous rift between his internationally recognized government and southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier December, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said Yemen is the country most at risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in 2021, marking the third year running the war-ravaged nation earned the grim recognition.

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(With Agency Inputs)