Former Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi reasserted his authority Saturday after resigning from his position earlier this year after Houthi rebels staged a coup and dissolved the country's parliament, reports Reuters.
Hadi signed "president of the republic of Yemen" on a statement released Saturday, which he then read to Al-Jazeera news. It was his first public comment since he resigned last month, according to Reuters.
In the statement, Hadi described the Houthi takeover as a "coup" and stated the rebels forced him to sign a power sharing agreement before they dissolved the parliament and established their own ruling council.
He also recommitted to a 2012 transition plan first outlined after the fall of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh which would push forward democracy in Yemen. He focused on promoting "national dialogue," as well as collaborating with political and tribal factions to draft a new constitution.
Just yesterday Hadi left his home in the capital of Sanaa, where he was presumably under house arrest by Houthi orders, to flee to Aden.
