Can President Hadi Tackle all Yemen Challenges?

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a, March 1, 2012 - Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi has taken the constitutional oath on Saturday to become Yemen's new president, formally replacing former president Ali Abdullah Saleh from power after a year of protests that paralyzed the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.

The new President, who stood as the sole candidate to replace Saleh in a US-backed power transfer deal brokered by Gulf neighbors, was voted in after more than 60% of eligible voters took part in the election last week, in which many protesters boycotted the elections as Houthi rebels in the north and separatists in the south.

No doubt Hadi inherited from former president significant challenges in economic, social and security areas. The new president has to deal with challenges practically, or chaos will reign in the whole country.

In his speech before Yemeni parliament after the constitutional oath, President Hadi pledged to draw a line under the crisis and tackle pressing issues such as a deepening economic crisis, and bringing those displaced by Yemen's crisis back to their homes.

Reconstruction of the army units

Major events on ground indicate otherwise. The biggest challenge at the political level is the reconstruction of the army units, a step that is planned to start after the presidential elections.

Protesters say by electing Hadi to replace Saleh they achieved the first goal of their peaceful revolution; however, they still have other goals that need to be fulfilled, including the removal of [ex-president] Saleh’s relatives from the army and security institutions, restructuring these institutions and building a civil state.

They also demanded President Hadi to remove the whole old guards, including Al-Ahmer family and General Ali Mohssen in order to build strong civil state in the country instead of the current fragile state.

Freeing Youth Detainees from government and First Armored Division Prisons

There are many detainees in Yemeni prisons protesters wanted new president freeing youth detainees from government prisons, youths who have been protesting against President Saleh for more than year asked president Hadi to free their friends from First Armored Division prisons as well.

Tackling Security Problems and Ensuring Safety in the country

Actually, Yemeni crisis need strong determination to tackle all problems in the country. Not only problem in the political area but also there is several are waiting to be tackled. Security and stability need to be improved everywhere in Yemen especially in the south where AQAP increased its operations against government forces and expanded its presence in south as well as Houthis In the north who attempts to control and expand in new areas in the north. Thousands of people have been displaced as a result. Civilians have called upon the Government to bear responsibilities and solve the problem.

This state of instability in the north and south will lead to the existence of new extremist groups. The Abaad study said there are some parties that seek to control cities by force under the pretext of Al-Qaeda as is the case in Abyan and Radaa cities and the same scenario is expected to be repeated in Ibb, Al-Dalei, Lahj, Aden, Hadhramout governorates.

In the economic area, there is several problems face the new president after almost one year of protests against president Saleh which inherited real problem to the economic and it needs to years to be tackled. According to development agencies operating in Yemen, Prime Minister, Mahmoud Basondowa, said last month Yemen needs “billions of dollars” for development.

Public services like electricity and water need also more to be tackled after of being damaged by tribesmen in Mareb and other districts nearby.

Yemenis need public services like electricity and water to be restored very fast.

Still many development challenges remain on the surface such as the highest rates in illiteracy, unemployment, and malnutrition in the country which need to a magic stick to be solved.