Yemen’s exiled Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah (C) arrives at Aden airport in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, on August 1, 2015. (EPA/STR)
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, a Yemeni official said President Hadi will soon unveil a new government lineup, with a new prime minister and ministers who will be chosen “based on their competence, stance on the legitimacy and the support they have from [Yemen’s] political powers.”
President Hadi will keep Khaled Bahah, Yemen’s prime minister and vice president, as vice president and will appoint two deputy prime ministers from the members of the new cabinet, the source added.
According to the source the new prime minister is from north Yemen and “has a long history of government work.” Yemen’s political powers, the official maintained, have given their blessing to Hadi’s new appointments.
There will be a reduction in the number of ministries, the source maintained, as some will be merged in a bid “to increase their effectiveness and reduce costs and bureaucracy.”
Most cabinet members fled with President Hadi to Saudi Arabia after the Iran-allied Houthis captured most of the country, including the capital Sana’a and the strategic southern city of Aden, in February.
In a major reversal of fortune, government loyalists, backed by Saudi-led coalition forces, captured Aden last month and started marching towards the Houthi-held Sana’a.
The new cabinet will carry out its duties soon and in full coordination with the Hadi administration in Riyadh.
The move aims to weed out cabinet members whose loyalties lay with the Houthi rebels and followers of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the official said.
Several ministers have resigned, neglected their duties or disappeared since Saudi Arabia started bombarding the rebels in late March at Hadi’s request.
Those include the ministers of education, higher education and oil, among others.