Yemen’s parliament convenes, elects speaker

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has attended a rare session of parliament in an eastern city.

The House of Representatives convened Saturday in Sayoun for the first time since war broke out in March 2015 between the Houthi rebels, who control the capital, Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition backing the government.

More than 130 lawmakers attended the session and elected Sultan al-Borkani as speaker. The 301-member assembly was elected to a six-year term in 2009. It is split between Houthi supporters, government supporters and independents.

Yemen’s government has been based in the southern city of Aden since 2015, but Hadi and other top officials live in Saudi Arabia. Local authorities in Aden, who are allied with the United Arab Emirates, refused to allow parliament to convene there.