Yemen PM Ahmed Bin Mubarak resigns amid power struggle and infighting

Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, resigned on Saturday citing political struggles and difficulties in enacting reforms. His resignation highlights ongoing tensions within the country’s internationally recognized government and the fragility of its anti-Houthi alliance.

Bin Mubarak, who was appointed in February 2024, announced his resignation in a letter addressed to Presidential Council head Rashad al-Alimi.

In the letter, he expressed frustration over his inability to make “necessary decisions to reform the state institution and execute the necessary Cabinet reshuffle”, as reported by the Associated Press.

In his X post, Mubarak stated that ongoing institutional gridlock and political infighting had left him unable to "exercise constitutional powers" or carry out long-overdue reforms.

His decision comes amid deep divisions within the ruling council and growing economic and political instability in government-held areas.

Salem Saleh Bin Braik Appointed As New PM

Soon after the resignation, the presidential council named Finance Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik as the new prime minister, according to the state-run SABA news agency. Bin Mubarak was appointed as an advisor to the council, though his specific complaints were not publicly addressed.

According to six government sources cited by news agency Reuters, Bin Mubarak had clashed with Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, over the scope of his authority, particularly after al-Alimi refused to approve the dismissal of 12 ministers.

These tensions reflect deeper divisions within the anti-Houthi coalition, which is fractured between factions that support Saudi Arabia and those that align with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.

Bin Mubarak, who previously served as foreign minister and presidential chief of staff, gained international attention in 2015 when he was kidnapped by Houthi fighters amid escalating conflict in the capital, Sanaa.

The resignation comes at a time of heightened military activity in Yemen. Since mid-March, the United States has intensified airstrikes targeting Houthi positions to curb attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Yemen’s civil war, now in its second decade, began in 2014 when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels seized Sanaa, forcing the recognized government into exile.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to restore the government, but the conflict has since turned into a protracted and deadly stalemate. More than 150,000 people have died, and the war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.