23 ministers out of 24 members of the new Yemeni government took the constitutional oath today, Saturday, in front of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, after it was scheduled to take the oath in the interim capital, Aden.
A government source reported to Anadolu Agency that Prime Minister Moein Abdul-Malik and the ministers took the constitutional oath before President Hadi at his residence in Riyadh, with the exception of Minister of Local Administration Hussein Abdul Rahman Al-Aghbry, who refused to go to Riyadh and insisted that he take the constitutional oath in the interim Yemeni capital, Aden.
The source did not mention any additional details about the manner in which Minister Al-Aghbry would later perform the constitutional oath, which is legally binding to assume his duties officially.
On December 18, the Yemeni presidency announced the formation of a new government, equally divided between the north and the south, based on the Riyadh Agreement, after consultations between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council supported by the UAE.
The government's announcement stipulated that the northern governorates would be granted 12 ministerial portfolios, including defense, and the south received 12 portfolios, including 5 portfolios for the Southern Transitional Council, according to the agreement sponsored by Saudi Arabia for more than a year.
The new government formation aims to end the dispute between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Transitional Council, and devote itself to confronting the Houthis, who have come close to controlling Marib, the last government stronghold in northern Yemen.
In addition to the conflict between the government and the transitional council, Yemen has been witnessing a war for 6 years between the Saudi-backed government forces and the Iranian-backed Houthi group.