“We announce the commencement of a transitional phase lasting two years.” With those words on January 2, 2026, Aidaros Alzubidi, president of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), set a clock running on a vote that could split the country again. AFP reported that the separatists want a “South Arabia” independent by January 2028.
Alzubidi, speaking from Aden, asked the international community to sponsor talks between the parties involved. Al-Monitor reported that he framed the dialogue around “the right of the people of the south” and proposed a popular referendum on self-determination once the two years are up.
What the declaration says
The STC published a constitutional declaration for a State of South Arabia with Aden as its capital. Its borders would follow those of the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, which existed as an independent state from 1967 to 1990.
The plan includes talks with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who hold northern Yemen. There is a threat attached. Alzubidi warned that the STC would declare independence “immediately” if dialogue fails or if southern Yemen is attacked again.
It was a long-held goal stated more bluntly. Al Jazeera noted that Alzubidi joined Yemen’s unity government through the Presidential Leadership Council in April 2022 while keeping his aim of restoring the pre-1990 southern state. In earlier interviews he had described a federal “State of South Arabia” and argued that “the peace process is frozen.”
Airstrikes the same day
The announcement landed in the middle of fighting. AFP said Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on military camps and bases in Hadramawt province and Seiyun killed seven STC fighters, the first coalition casualties since the STC’s campaign began. A Saudi military source said the strikes “will not stop until the Southern Transitional Council withdraws from the two governorates.”
Al-Monitor added that the Saudi-backed provincial governor said he planned to take over STC sites “peacefully and in an organized manner.” The Yemeni government did not immediately comment.
The UAE, which backs the STC, said it had withdrawn all its remaining troops from Yemen. It pledged support for “dialogue, de-escalation, and internationally supported processes as the only sustainable path to peace.” The split is a sharp one: Saudi Arabia and the UAE had fought the Houthis together since 2015, and now back different factions in the government-held south, where the STC has taken ground in resource-rich areas.
Five days later
The council chairman answered fast. According to Al Jazeera, within five days he removed Alzubidi from his post, stripped his immunity and referred him for prosecution on high treason charges. The Saudi-led coalition claimed Alzubidi had fled Yemen and began air strikes on STC forces.
For families in Aden and Hadramawt, the referendum date now sits behind a battlefield. The two-year transition was announced on January 2, 2026; the man who announced it was out of office by January 7.
Sources
- Yemen's UAE-backed separatists announce 2-year independence transition (AFP, via Daily Sabah)
- Yemen's STC announces self-determination process for South (Al-Monitor)
- Who is Aidarous al-Zubaidi? Yemen's 'traitor' chief (Al Jazeera)
