Great challenges are still facing President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi since he was elected president in February following the ouster of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Although it appeared that stability was restored in Sana’a, Taiz and other governorates, and the military gained control of Abyan and cleared Al-Qaeda affiliates out of the area, terrorism and extremism remain the greatest challenges for Hadi in the upcoming period. Al-Qaeda militants have resorted to carrying out different operations targeting soldiers in several countries using car bombs and explosive belts.

So far, Hadi’s decrees are still faced with refusal by some military leaders. Hadi’s last decree regarding mixing brigades from the First Armored Division and the Republican Guard, under the name “President’s Protection,” was met with refusal.

The question now is, “What has Hadi achieved and what has he not achieved since he was elected president?”

Mahmoud Bokari, a political sociology professor at Sana’a University, said the new president has achieved several great things. According to Bokari, Hadi saved Yemen from a civil war that nearly destroyed the country. He also said Hadi is still trying to find a way out of this political impasse.

Bokari said reconciliation won’t be achieved unless the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), which is planned for November, succeeds. He said the dialogue must include a reasonable agenda disassociated with the personal interests of all those involved with the dialogue.

Bokari said the financial and economic difficulties Yemen faces are a big challenge for Hadi. The economic situation will be linked to the results of the NDC and the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Hadi was elected president in a  difficult security situation and in a revolutionary movement that still continues today.

Hameed Rezq, a columnist and a journalist, said he thinks Hadi is a real president who avoids the disagreements of the former regime. He also said there was a hope for several powers that were negatively affected by the former regime, adding that all political powers and parties accepted Hadi because he had neither revenge nor grudge with them.

 “However, Hadi couldn’t play his role in creating reconciliation between all parties because he doesn’t make decisions alone,” Rezq said. “He shares decisions with the Gulf Initiative brokers, America and Saudi Arabia, who prefer the Muslim Brotherhood because of a plan intended to face Iran in the future. And so, Hadi’s decrees enforces one part [of the plan] over the others.”

Rizq said the most balanced decree made by Hadi was forming the Technical Committee to pave the way for the NDC. Influential members of the former regime didn’t accept it, and it was criticized and opposed by the Joint Meetings Parties. The decree has been met with sharp criticism by religious and military figures across the country.

Rizq said he believes that the success of the NDC will be a real achievement for Hadi. However, he isn’t hopeful that the NDC will in fact succeed because some parties have their own interests and want to hold an exclusive dialogue. They put pressure on Hadi to follow their ways instead.

Thus far, Hadi is neither supported by all parties nor criticized by all parties. However, the revolutionary youth—who have been active in change squares throughout Yemen since the beginning of 2011’s political uprising—remain unconvinced by what Hadi has accomplished so far because he issued a decree to release all detained revolutionary youth, but the youth have not yet been released.

Saqr Abu Hassan, a journalist and a self-labeled revolutionary youth, said young men are detained in prisons without being released, and those who have been wounded during the uprising haven’t received treatment.

Abu Hassan said he thinks Hadi tries to remove the dominating military powers by issuing decrees, though he issued a decree to mix troops from the First Armored Division and the Republican Guards to protect the president last week.

However, Abu Hassan isn’t convinced because Hadi has not reorganized the military so far, has not attempted to improve the economic situation of ordinary people and did not impose state control over all the Yemeni governorates.