The man paving the way for the return of Yemen’s government

Mohammed Ali Marem has risen from an academic to one of the most important men in Yemen. The National sits down for an exclusive interview with the most senior official left in the country.

The remains of the presidential palace in Aden. Mohammed Al Qalisi for The National

Aden // He may be the only senior official from Yemen's internationally recognised government working inside the country, but Mohammed Ali Marem appears remarkably upbeat.
Yet his friendly and humble demeanour belies the weight of responsibility resting on the 40-year-old's shoulders.
As chief of staff for the office of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, he is tasked with paving the way for the return of a government forced into exile when Houthi rebels attacked Aden in March after taking over Sanaa, the capital, almost a year ago.
With large parts of Aden in ruins from the fighting and the constant threat of militant attacks, preparing this historic port to serve as a capital is proving challenging.
"President Hadi has hoped to return to Aden since the beginning of August, ... however it is difficult to return to war-torn city, as there is not even an office for the president to work from and there is not a house for him," Mr Marem tells The National. "However, I hope that the reconstruction of the presidential palaces will be finished as soon as possible, and the president will return in the coming days."
Mr Marem accompanied the president during his escape from Sanaa to Aden in February after the Houthis took over.
He last saw Mr Hadi when he and his government ministers fled from Aden for Saudi Arabia in March as the Houthis closed in on the city.
Mr Marem stayed behind and, with his wife and children, went into hiding until the Houthis were expelled from the city in July by Southern Resistance forces with help from UAE troops and armoured vehicles.
It was during this time that Mr Hadi issued a decree appointing Mr Marem as the chief of staff of the presidential office. His predecessor, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, had been jailed by the Houthis in Sanaa, and was only released on the promise that he leave Yemen. He now serves as the ambassador to the US.
The rise to such a senior position came quickly for Mr Marem, who holds a PhD in finance and banking from the University of Putra in Malaysia. Originally from Abyan province, he went on to become a finance lecturer at Aden University, and took on a role as the head of rebuilding the country in Yemen's National Dialogue Conference, a process put in place after the Arab Spring protests that toppled long-time leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
His office is inside an understated two-storey building in Aden's Al Sheik Othman district. Several guards are spread inside and outside the premises and a number of leaders from South Yemen are gathered at the building, including the governor of Abyan and some leading figures of the Southern Resistance.
Speaking to The National inside his office, a clean shaven and young-looking Mr Marem is full of praise for the role of the UAE in helping to liberate Aden from the Houthis and he pays tribute to the seven Emirati soldiers killed in the operation to defeat the Houthis.
"The Emirates led the battle in Aden from the first step to the last and they made Aden return to its normal conditions," he says. "The Emirates is the most effective country in the field, especially fighting shoulder to shoulder with the resistance on the battlefields."
He also says the UAE had played a vital role in rebuilding key services in the city including opening the airport and harbour. The Emirates Red Crescent has overseen the distribution of thousands of tons of aid to the city's residents.
He says that with UAE troops enforcing a security cordon around the city, the next phase is to prepare Aden to serve as the capital of Yemen while forces loyal to Mr Hadi continue to fight to retake first Taez and then Sanaa from the Houthis.
"The reconstruction of buildings is the only obstacle that faces the return of the cabinet to Aden," he says, adding that eight ministers were expected to arrive in Aden soon.
Mr Marem cannot say how long Aden will remain as the capital. That will depend on the success of the military campaign further north. But he adds that Aden used to be the seat of government for South Yemen before it unified with the north in 1990.
He says it would take several months to prepare the necessary buildings for the ministers but that work is underway by a UAE construction firm to repair the ruined Al Maashiq presidential palace for Mr Hadi's return.
For now, Mr Marem works an exhausting schedule of 14-hour days, filled with meetings, interviews, inspecting projects and liaising with his colleagues in Riyadh, and meeting with provincial leaders, both Gulf and Yemeni military commanders and Emirati aid officials.
He carries out his work under a constant threat from Al Qaeda militants, who have staged a number of attacks in recent weeks inside the city.
Mr Marem's phone rings and there is a queue of people waiting outside to see him. He returns to work.
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