Hadi’s return symbolises a new era

Yemen’s president is back in the country. That is a powerful statement of intent

Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrives at an airbase adjoining the civilian airport in Yemen's war-ravaged southern city of Aden (AFP PHOTO / STR)

Six months after he was forced into exile, Yemen’s president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi has returned to re-establish control. He returns to a country very different from the one he left, but one in which there is, for the first time in many months, hope of a better future.

When Mr Hadi left Yemen in March, he did so against the background of Gulf-led air strikes in Aden. The Houthi rebels, who had first placed Mr Hadi under house arrest in Sanaa, had marched on the second city Aden, from where Mr Hadi was running the country. In response, Saudi Arabia, backed by the UAE, began an aerial bombing campaign to halt the march of the Houthi rebels. Instability was spreading.

Now, six months on, the opposite is the case. Gradually, stability is returning. As we report today, five police stations have reopened in Aden this week, bringing law and order and some semblance of normality to the southern city. With the Houthis gone, Yemeni and Emirati troops are now ensuring that the coastal city has a chance to rebuild itself, and bringing law and order to a city that has just emerged from six months of conflict is the first priority.

That chance will soon be offered to the rest of the country. The war against the Houthis is not over, by any means. The group is still holed up in the capital Sanaa and shows no intention of sincerely negotiating. But the Arab coalition assembled against the Iranian-backed group now surrounds the capital – and, as we reported earlier this week, the rebels have also lost the backing of most Yemenis in the capital, who have had enough of the Houthis’ false promises and the destruction they have brought. Those two elements, taken together, should ensure a relatively speedy end to the Houthis’ attempt to take over Yemen.

The return of Mr Hadi, then, is highly symbolic. It shows that a legitimate government is in charge and back on home soil. That is also why it is positive that Mr Hadi will be at the United Nations General Assembly next week to address the world body. It is a sign that, despite the war, the leaders are back in charge and Yemen is ready to begin rebuilding.