SUMMARY
The Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) was the internationally recognized Government of Yemen, but has been coded as a non-state group due to the 22 January 2015 take-over of the capital Sanaa by Ansarallah, which made them the government according to the UCDP’s coding rules. The PLC was originally called the Forces of Hadi, due to being led by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. On 7 April 2022, Hadi resigned and was replaced by an eight-man Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), causing the name change to the Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council.
After Hadi's resignation, the PLC was chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, and its members represented the major military factions fighting the Ansarallah Government of Yemen. Al-Alimi himself was a former advisor to Hadi and originally lacked an independent power-base, though this changed through the formation of the Nation's Shield forces, through Saudi funding, operating directly under him. The PLC comprised several members from Islah, as well as the leader of the National Resistance Forces (NRF) coalition, Tariq Saleh, the leader of Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, and the leader of the Giants Brigades, Abdulrahman Abu Zara'a Al Muharrami. STC consolidate its hold of southern Yemen and its influence in the PLC in 2023, by merging with the Giants Brigades and recruiting several influential figures from the eastern governorates, including the PLC member and former governor of Hadramaut, Faraj Salmin Al-Bahsani. By the end of 2023, three of the eight members of the Presidential Leadership Council were members of the STC, making the southern separatist movement the single biggest block within the leadership of the anti-Ansarallah coalition. In December 2025, STC attempted to further shift the balance of power by taking control of Hadramawt and Mahra governorates from PLC-loyalist forces. This sparked an armed non-state conflict, and the removal of STC from the PLC leadership.
History
Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi had been the vice-president to Yemn's strongman leader of more than 30 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Following widespread protests, greatly inspired by the events of the so-called Arab Spring, as well as clashes between loyalist and dissident troops and the rebellion of several powerful tribes in Yemen in 2011, Saleh eventually agreed to resign on 23 November 2011. He promised, in return for an amnesty, to relinquish all presidential powers by February 2012, when Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi would be elected interim President for a two-year period. As planned, this change in power indeed became effective on 21 February 2012. When Hadi’s term as interim President neared its end in 2014, Hadi unilaterally extended his term as president, over the protests of Ansarallah, which declared the move illegitimate and initiated an armed march on the capital, reigniting the conflict.
In 2015, the violence in Yemen escalated drastically. Ansarallah ousted the government led by President Hadi and took control over the capital in January, with the help of former President Saleh. According to UCDP definitions, Ansarallah was then seen as the Government of Yemen. Hadi was put under house arrest and resigned on 22 January. After having managed to flee to Aden, Hadi retracted his resignation on 21 February and resumed the position as president. While his government was the internationally recognized one, due to above stated definitions, the coalition that supported Hadi as president was seen as a non-state actor. As previously mentioned, Hadi resigned on 7 April 2022 and was replaced by an eight-man Presidential Leadership Council, which continues to claim to be the legitimate government of Yemen.
Throughout 2015-2025, Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council has been supported by an international coalition, whose major members include Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the state-based dyad Government of Yemen - Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council. The international coalition supporting the PLC originally consisted of ten countries, but most members gradually withdrew during 2017-2019 as it increasingly became clear that no rapid victory over Ansarallah was forthcoming. By 2022, even Saudi Arabia appeared to be looking for an exit, holding talks with Ansarallah during 2022 and 2023. UN-mediated talks had resulted in a ceasefire between the Ansarallah government and the PLC April-October 2022, and Saudi-Ansarallah talks helped to maintain it informally throughout 2023 and 2024. A growing Saudi-UAE rivalry caused the coalition that supported the PLC to fracture further. In December 2025, the UAE was formally ordered to withdraw from Yemen, after it had backed the STC's coup in eastern Yemen. Saudi Arabia backed the PLC in crushing the STC uprising, largely reestablishing the PLC's authority throughout southern Yemen in January 2026. The remaining UAE supported forces, notably NRF and the Giants Brigades, largely agreed to shift allegiance to Saudi Arabia and the PLC.
Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council has been involved in non-state conflicts against AQAP and IS, with backing from the United States. It has also fought several factions that otherwise has participated in the coalition, most notably the Southern separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council has been involved in the intrastate and non-state category of UCDP organized violence.
