The prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, said Saturday he was resigning due to political struggles, underscoring the fragility of an alliance fighting Houthi rebels in the Arab world’s most impoverished country.
He announced the decision in a post on social media, attaching a resignation letter directed to Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling presidential council. The internationally recognized government is based in the southern city of Aden, reports AP.
Bin Mubarak, named prime minister in February 2024, said he was resigning because he was unable to take “necessary decisions to reform the state institution, and execute the necessary Cabinet reshuffle.”
Within hours of the resignation, the presidential council swiftly appointed Finance Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik as the new prime minister, according to the state-run SABA news agency. It also designated the outgoing premier, Bin Mubarak, as an advisor—without addressing the allegations he raised.
Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, noted that Bin Mubarak’s departure followed months of escalating friction between him and the presidential council over their respective authorities. He also suggested that Bin Mubarak had partly become a scapegoat for the administration’s inability to tackle deepening economic woes in government-controlled regions, such as inflation and chronic power outages.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened the following year, launching a prolonged and unresolved proxy war against the Houthis.
The current presidential council, formed in 2022 to consolidate anti-Houthi factions, is itself split into two camps: one aligned with Aydarous al-Zubaidi and backed by the UAE, and the other loyal to Saudi Arabia, including President Rashad al-Alimi and Marib governor Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah.
Bin Mubarak’s resignation coincides with intensified US military action against the Houthis. Since March 15, the US has conducted near-daily airstrikes in rebel-held areas under President Donald Trump’s newly escalated campaign.
The war has devastated Yemen and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. More than 1,50,000 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed.
Bd-pratidin English/FNC
