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Yemeni parliament postpones emergency session on president's resignation

Xinhua, January 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Yemeni parliament has postponed an emergency session which is expected to vote on the president's resignation, the official Saba news agency reported Sunday.

The meeting was delayed until "another date to be set later" in order to have more time to "inform all members of the parliament to attend," Saba reported, citing a statement of the parliament.

The emergency session scheduled on Sunday was due to vote on the resignation of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Hadi submitted his resignation on Thursday night, which was rejected by the parliament.

The parliament said earlier in a brief statement that it would hold an emergency session on Friday which was then postponed to Sunday.

Parliament Speaker Yahia Ali Al-Ra'ai who led a Yemeni delegation arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to offer condolences on the death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Officials said Sunday that the speaker has not returned to Yemen.

Hadi on Thursday night submitted his resignation to the parliament amid standoff with the Shiite Houthi group who control the capital.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah presented resignation to Hadi on the same day.

Sultan al-Atwani, one of Hadi's advisors who are among the country's decision-making body, said in an online statement that Hadi submitted his resignation after the Houthi group pressed him to appoint a vice president from the group.

According to Yemen's constitution, the vice president will take over power if the president resigns. Hadi has not appointed a deputy since he was elected president in February 2012.

The impoverish country has seen persistent unrest since 2011 when mass protests forced former president Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down. Hadi took over power from Saleh in 2012 but failed to implement reforms in the government and army, nor advance reconciliation among political factions.

Yemen has since been facing growing secessionism and al-Qaida networks in the south and armed groups including the powerful Houthi in the north. Endit