Former Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah’s appointment as vice president on Sunday indicates that Saudi Arabia may have realised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is actually part of the problem, rather than the solution.

By pressuring Hadi to name a vice president at this critical time, the kingdom may be indicating its political plans for Yemen after the end of its military operation. It is also possible that Bahah will become the de facto president of Yemen, especially since he is popular among broader segments of the Yemeni population than Hadi.

Bahah was the only politician accepted by both the Houthis and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s party to become Yemen’s prime minister after the infamous January 2015 agreement of peace and partnership between Hadi, the Houthis, and other key Yemeni political actors.