Yemen’s Ruling Party Vows to Nominate Maj. Gen. Hadi as Saleh’s Replacement

Hadi in US for 'Regular Medical Check'

At a press conference today the spokesman for Yemen’s ruling General People’s Congress announced that the party will announce Major General Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as their candidate for president in any election after current President Ali Abdullah Saleh resigns.

Though Hadi has been considered the heir apparent for quite some time and the US has been vocal in endorsing Hadi, who has been the appointed Vice President since the 1994 Yemeni Civil War, this is the first time the GPC has been so public about nominating him for “early elections.”

Which is the real news of the announcement, as it is the first time the ruling party has been so straightforward about President Saleh eventually stepping down in the face of pro-democracy rallies and an early election being held.

Interestingly the announcement came while Hadi was out of the country, as he has been in the United States for several days undergoing what officials termed a “regular medical check.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.