Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (عبدربه منصور هادي Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the president of Yemen from 2012 until 2022, when he stepped down and transferred executive authority to the Presidential Leadership Council, with Rashad al-Alimi as its chairman.

Hadi was born on 1 September 1945 in Thukain, Al Wade'a District, Abyan, a southern Yemeni governorate.

He graduated from a military academy in the Federation of South Arabia in 1966.

In 1966 he graduated after receiving a military scholarship to study in Britain, but was not able to attend, as he did not speak English.

In 1970, he received another military scholarship to study tanks in Egypt.

Hadi spent the following four years in the Soviet Union studying military leadership.

He occupied several military posts in the army of South Yemen until 1986, when he fled to North Yemen with Ali Nasser Mohammed, president of South Yemen, after Ali Nasser's faction of the ruling Yemeni Socialist Party lost the 1986 civil war.

Hadi played a low-profile role during the Aden Emergency.

Following the independence of South Yemen, he rose to prominence in the new military, reaching the rank of Major General.

He remained loyal to President Ali Nasser Mohammed during the South Yemen Civil War, and followed him into exile in neighboring North Yemen.

He was the vice president to Ali Abdullah Saleh from 1994 to 2012.

During the 1994 civil war in Yemen, Hadi sided with the Yemeni government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and was appointed as Minister of Defense.

In this role he led the military campaign against the Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Following the war he was promoted to vice president on 3 October 1994, replacing Ali Salim Al-Beidh, who had resigned and fought against the government during the civil war.

Between 4 June and 23 September 2011, Hadi was the acting president of Yemen while Ali Abdullah Saleh was undergoing medical treatment in Saudi Arabia following an attack on the presidential palace during the 2011 Yemeni uprising.

On 23 November, he became Acting President again, after Saleh moved into a non-active role pending the presidential election "in return for immunity from prosecution".

Hadi was "expected to form a national unity government and also call for early presidential elections within 90 days" while Saleh continued to serve as president in name only.

Mansour Hadi was chosen as a president for a two-year transitional period on 21 February by Yemen's political factions, in an election where he was the sole consensus candidate, although the election was boycotted by Houthis in the north and Southern Secessionists in the south of the country.

Hadi was the sole candidate in the presidential election that was held on 21 February 2012.

His candidacy was backed by the ruling party, as well as by the parliamentary opposition.

The Electoral Commission reported that 65 percent of registered voters in Yemen voted during the election.

Hadi won with 100% of the vote and took the oath of office in Yemen's parliament on 25 February 2012.

He was formally inaugurated as the president of Yemen on 27 February 2012, when Saleh resigned from the presidency and formally ceded power to Hadi.

In March 2013 the National Dialogue Conference was conceived as a core part of the transition process and is intended to bring together Yemen's diverse political and demographic groups to address critical issues.

Hadi's mandate was extended for another year in January 2014.

According to pro-Houthi media outlet SABA, Hadi remained in power after the expiration of his mandate.

In January 2014, Hadi pushed delegates at the conference to break a deadlock on key issues and bring the talks to an overdue close.

When those in attendance finally agreed on a final few points, he launched into an impassioned speech that led to a spike in his popularity.

It was agreed that Yemen would shift to a federal model of government in the future, a move which has been proposed and forcefully backed by Hadi.

For many Yemenis, particularly in northwestern Yemen, this decentralization was less attractive.

On 22 January 2015, he was forced to resign by the Houthis in the midst of mass protest against his decision to raise the fuel subsidies and due to dissatisfaction with the outcome of the 2011 Revolution.

Subsequently, the Houthis and the supporters of Saleh seized the presidential palace and placed Hadi under house arrest.

The Houthis named a Revolutionary Committee to assume the powers of the presidency, as well as unify with the General People's Congress, Hadi's own political party.

A month later, Hadi escaped to his hometown of Aden, rescinded his resignation, and denounced the Houthi takeover.

He arrived in Riyadh the next day, as a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of his government.

He returned to Aden in September 2015, as Saudi-backed government forces recaptured the city.

In late 2017, he was reportedly residing in Riyadh under house arrest.

In 2022, Hadi transferred his powers to a newly formed Presidential Leadership Council led by Rashad al-Alimi which would seek a political solution to Yemen's civil war.

This came amid a broader push for peace with Saudi Arabia.

Multiple sources in the Saudi and Yemeni governments alleged that he had been forced to cede power by the Saudis.