Yemen Monitor / Reports Unit / Exclusive:
The Southern Transitional Council (STC)—recently declared dissolved and backed by the UAE—has announced a change in its name to the “Transitional Council of South Arabia.” This designation invokes the era of British colonialism prior to independence in the late 1960s and directly conflicts with the objectives of the October 14 Revolution.
The name change did not come via an official statement but appeared suddenly on the Council’s official accounts and was spread by its activists and affiliated media, coinciding with its celebration of the ninth anniversary of its founding in May 2017.
As criticism and backlash intensified over the new name and its historical implications representing a repudiation of the October 14 Revolution, the STC spokesman, Anwar Al-Tamimi, appeared in the well-known Emirati newspaper “Erm News” defending the name change and attacking the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi.
He indicated that the name change was a reaction to what he called a “coup” against the Transitional Council, considering it a break from “political Yemenization” and a step that redefines the STC’s identity.
Entangling the Southern Cause and Haphazard Decision-Making
The decision faced a wave of criticism from STC loyalists before its opponents, who considered the move an insult to the Southern cause and a reflection of the improvisation that has led the STC to its current state.
Academic and former STC leader Aidarus Al-Naqeeb described the decision as a “frivolous label” and an indication of “rashness and recklessness,” warning against entangling the Southern cause in international legal mazes.
Al-Naqeeb explained that there is no historically recognized state by this name, and that the state that entered unity in 1990 was a UN member under the name “People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen,” affirming that “naming a state is not a game for amusement.”
Al-Naqeeb also attacked the STC leadership holding the reins of decision-making, describing what they do as a “military battalion issuing reckless decrees,” stressing that naming the Southern state is not a frivolous matter or a game for amusement, but has legal and constitutional backgrounds and references.
Similarly, journalist Salah Al-Saqaldi, who is close to the Southern Movement, launched a scathing attack on the decision-making process, describing it as “chaotic and improvisational.”
Al-Saqaldi questioned who made this decision at a time when the Council’s bodies are suffering from paralysis and disruption, with most of its members scattered at home and abroad.
Al-Saqaldi said, “The entity’s name is changed in the blink of an eye without the knowledge of its members and most of its leaders,” pointing out that insisting on hostility to institutional work and certain individuals monopolizing decisions “cooked up” outside official bodies may lead the Council to new disasters, adding that “even changing your child’s name requires consultation.”
The Eastern Problem Haunts the STC
Just as Hadramawt and Al-Mahrah were the last straw that broke the STC, following the military offensive it led on the eastern provinces in December 2025 and the subsequent expulsion of the UAE from Yemen, its retreat to Aden, and its collapse, “the East” returns to be a problem even in the new name. The Federation of South Arabia that the STC presents as an extension of its new name did not include the sultanates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahrah – the very reason it invaded the eastern provinces.
The STC spokesman did not overlook this problem. While he confirmed that the entity did not include all the sultanates, he tried to justify it based on self-determination demands. Although the Federation was supported by colonialism, it was unable to bring the eastern regions in and force them to officially declare their entry into the Federation of South Arabian Sultanates. The concerns that emerged then among the Kathiri and Qu’aiti in Hadramawt as well as Al-Mahrah about domination are returning today in the same context.
Regional Conditions and Historical Implications
The new name of the UAE-backed STC comes amid regional and local developments, months after organizing events and marking a presence reflecting that Abu Dhabi is trying to reorganize the ranks of the project it founded nine years ago, pushing it to adopt secession to serve as a local proxy for its influence in the Arabian Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
According to analysts, the goals that drove the British to create the Federation of South Arabia are no different from the UAE’s attempt to create the STC and maintain it in the same manner. Despite its withdrawal from Yemen in January, Abu Dhabi aspires to impose its interests and keep the STC as a tool of pressure and a card it will not allow to end easily.
The new name brings to mind the “Federation of South Arabia” – the entity established by Britain between 1959 and 1962 to merge the sheikhdoms of the Aden Protectorates under its supervision, a project that collapsed after the October 14, 1967 Revolution.
