The tide of war in Yemen has subsided since early April, and life has been easier without daily armed clashes and airstrikes. Thanks to the UN-sponsored two-month truce reached by the warring sides in Yemen in March, the number of civilian casualties has declined and the fuel crisis has disappeared.
About 10 days remain of the cease-fire. Once it is over, Yemen will see a resurge of the fighting or more peace initiatives in the hope of sparing this country further bloodshed. If the war starts anew, it will pit the Iran-allied Houthi group against the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, which was declared on April 7 as the new face of the UN-recognized government.
This council is headed by Rashad Al-Alimi, a former interior minister who belongs to the General People's Congress(GPC), a popular political party in Yemen. In 2014, the party paved the way for the Houthi takeover of Sanaa and partnered to rule areas under their control. While the Houthi group kept accumulating power, the GPC disintegrated. However, the recent creation of the new Presidential Leadership Council is a remarkable revival of the GPC, and this could throw the Houthis into confusion in the months to come.
Today, the council is exercising its duty in Aden. The government ministers and parliament members have also returned. Former President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the government and the parliament had been in exile since 2015. That reality gave the Houthis better political and military leverage. However, the ongoing presence of the GPC-headed council on the ground in Yemen could impose a new political and military scenario.
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