It comes as no surprise that the Yemeni duo, consisting of isolated former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis, will try and go after legitimate President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who they besieged at the presidential palace in Sanaa, but who fled and suddenly appeared in Aden and announced the latter as a temporary capital.
What may have been surprising was using warplanes to shell the presidential palace in Aden, which is 430 kilometers away from Sanaa.
The airstrike did not obstruct the activity of the legitimate government. On the contrary, it granted it huge support especially in the South, which was not enthusiastic about maintaining the unity with the North.
Those dealing with the situation in Aden think that Hadi’s escape from his Houthi captors and the rebels’ attempt to assassinate him and shell Aden have granted Hadi popularity and helped him gain the people’s sympathy. Before that, Hadi’s leadership capabilities and popularity were in doubt and the rebels in the North and the separatists in the South formed a major front against him.
Hadi now represents the national Yemeni project and the UN Security Council and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recognize his legitimacy. The scene has changed a little. Confrontations moved from Sanaa to Aden, highlighting the crisis facing ousted President Saleh who is greatly responsible for the chaos and rebellion and who, as time passes by, is losing more than the Houthis.
This is why Saleh wants to impose on influential parties his decision to assign his son Ahmad as president. If he doesn’t succeed in doing so within a year, his assets that are not frozen by sanctions and that he is using to fund the rebellion will decrease and he will thus lose the loyalty of most elements whom he has deceived by resorting to regional and tribal excuses or by promising them certain benefits.
Where do the Yemenis stand amid this crisis? The situation is difficult for all Yemenis. Fighting over power has been pitting some parties against one another. However, the majority should be with legitimacy because the latter means stability in a country where arms are being stacked up and it also means Arab and international support of development as well as ridding Yemen of the remnants of Saleh’s regime, against which the Yemenis revolted four years ago after it had increased their misery and desperation.
We won’t find many who want a backward group supported by Iran to control Yemen. The only popular option is legitimacy as supported by the UN, the Arab League and Yemen’s Gulf neighbors. All of the latter three agree on the legitimacy of Hadi’s government, and this is why Saleh and the Houthis want to kill him.
