As Yemen, the poorest and most populous country in the Arabian Peninsula, has suffered over the past few weeks from the onslaught of al-Qaeda, President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced an unexpected Cabinet reshuffle.
In a move which has been understood by political analysts as a clear change of strategy, President Hadi decided to appoint Khaled Mahfouz Bahah as Yemen new Oil Minister and Abdou Hussein al-Tarb as Yemen new Interior Minister.
Bearing in mind that Yemen’s oil industry has been the target in recent weeks of systematic attacks against either its infrastructures or its workers, such an appointment suggests that President Hadi would be aiming toward a complete strategy change. This theory was reinforced by the appointment of new Interior Minister.
Former Interior Minister Abdel Qader Qahtan has been criticised over the past months for what many have perceived as a security failure. Officials in Sana’a actually predicted that President Hadi will look to politically distance hi.
mself from Qahtan as the latter failed to curb Yemen’s descent into chaos, as to preserve his own political legitimacy and traction as a potent and able force in Yemen.
As Yemen embarks on the next stage of its transition of power, the actual implementation of the NDC resolutions and findings, the impoverished nation faced an uphill battle against both political instability and security.
And while a cabinet reshuffle will unlikely solve anything, experts have noted that a change in dynamics could actually help promote progress and unlock some of the tensions which have simmering under the surface, threatening to bring down months of careful planning and negotiations.