Yemeni President Resigns Under Pressure from Houthi Rebels

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned on Thursday, February 21, under pressure from the Houthi Shiite rebels who have seized the capital since September of last year. According to the Associated Press, Hadi submitted his resignation to the country's parliament following the Houthis' request for 'more' concessions to the group. A report from Agence France-Presse indicates that the Yemeni parliament did not accept his resignation. A Yemeni official told the news agency that the parliament's president announced the refusal of the president's resignation and stated that an emergency session of the parliament would be held on Friday. Meanwhile, a senior Houthi leader welcomed Hadi's resignation and called for the formation of a presidential council that would include representatives from the group, the army, and some political parties. According to Reuters, Abulmalik Youssef al-Fishi, a prominent leader of 'Ansar Allah', tweeted that 'Yemen is moving towards security, stability, comfort, and progress.' He considered Hadi's resignation good news for all Yemenis. Al-Fishi added, 'My proposal is to form a presidential council that includes political and revolutionary competencies, with individuals from the army, security committees, and popular forces.' Another report indicated that four provinces in southern Yemen announced that they would no longer take orders from Sanaa. According to Agence France-Presse, the military and security committee of the four provinces of Aden, Abyan, Lahij, and Dhale, which are loyal to Hadi, stated that this decision was made following the president's resignation. Hadi is from southern Yemen. The committee has put military and police forces in these four provinces on alert. The Houthis, who are supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, had removed the guards from Hadi's residence and replaced them with their own forces over the past two days. Hadi had agreed on Wednesday to make changes to the draft constitution to grant more power to the Shiite group, but the Houthis had higher expectations for concessions, including demands for the defense minister position and provincial centers, as well as the appointment of Houthi individuals in the presidential office, which Hadi refused. According to Yemeni law, if the president resigns, Yahya al-Rai, the president of the parliament, must assume his responsibilities. He is one of the allies of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is accused of being involved in the fall of Hadi's government. Currently, the capital, several regions of the country, and government institutions are under the control of the Houthi rebels. Several Yemeni officials, who wished to remain unnamed, told the Associated Press that the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah announced its resignation on Thursday morning. The resignation of the Yemeni government comes as Jamal Benomar, the UN envoy on Yemen, attempted to reach an agreement with Houthi representatives and government officials on Wednesday to end the ongoing crisis. This agreement included the withdrawal of Houthi forces from the personal residence of the president, the presidential palace, and key government institutions in Yemen that are besieged or occupied by the Houthi Shiite rebels to pave the way for negotiations and the granting of some concessions to this Iran-backed group. Bahah's cabinet was formed in November last year, two months after the Houthis attacked the capital, under a peace agreement between the Houthis and the government under UN supervision. Bahah wrote on his Facebook page that he had held the position of prime minister under 'very complex conditions' and announced that he would resign. He stated that he did not want to play a role in the events that are happening or will happen in the future.