Posted in: 20/04/2022 – 11:30
Head of the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen Rashad Al-Alimi and members of the council were sworn in on Tuesday in the city of Aden, the temporary seat of the government, in the presence of a number of European and Arab ambassadors, as well as the United Nations envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and US envoy Tim Lenderking in an undisclosed location.
Head and members received Presidential Leadership Council The Yemeni government on Tuesday resumed its duties in Aden, the temporary seat of the government, following a session in which the oath was taken before a number of parliament members elected in 2003, according to a government official.
The official told Agence France-Presse: “The President of the Presidential Leadership Council in To whom (Rashad Al-Alimi) and members of the Council … the constitutional oath in the city of Aden before the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives, in the presence of the Prime Minister and its ministers.
He added that the session took place under strict security measures for fear of being attacked, explaining that the security forces “reinforced their procedures around the location of the session, and hundreds of soldiers were deployed in the streets of the southern coastal city.”
According to Yemeni parliamentarians, the leadership of the Council and the other seven members were sworn in in the presence of a number of European and Arab ambassadors, as well as the United Nations envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg and the US envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking at an undisclosed location.
It is noteworthy that members of the Yemeni Parliament, which includes 301 seats, were elected in 2003, and no elections have been held since then. While 143 of them support the government, 90 of them support the Houthis and participate in sessions in Sanaa, which is under the control of the rebels, according to parliamentarians. Also, there are 23 who do not support any party, while 45 of the total members who were elected 19 years ago have died. It was not known how many people attended Tuesday’s session in Aden.
The former Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi handed over power on April 7 to the Leadership Council, which represents different forces, at the conclusion of consultations by major groups in Riyadh under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
For his part, Vice President of the Presidential Command Council Abdullah Al-Alimi affirmed that Yemen’s new leaders are “ready for war” if peace efforts with the rebels fail, but he stressed that the priority remains to end the conflict.
The move came at a time when Yemen is witnessing a truce between the Houthi rebels loyal to Iran and the government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, which has revived hope that it will lead to negotiations to end the conflict between the two parties, which, according to the United Nations, has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The government and the rebels accused each other of violating the truce, but the agreement has already succeeded in significantly reducing levels of violence.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia pushed the Yemeni president to step down earlier this month and that officials detained him at his home in Riyadh and restricted his contacts.
The newspaper quoted Saudi and Yemeni officials as saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave Hadi a written decree delegating his powers to the council. Some Saudi officials threatened to publish what they said was evidence of Hadi’s corruption, as part of their efforts to persuade him to step down.
France 24/AFP
