It is still constitutionally codified that Sanaa is the de jure capital of Yemen, and wherein all domestic and foreign government bodies are supposed to be headquartered. However, in light of the occupation of Sanaa by the Houthi forces and the mismanagement to the normal functions of government institutions that they have carried out, this has obliged the legitimate Yemeni Government to exercise emergency contingencies or countermeasures
Indeed, Yemen’s legislative body or Parliament has been relocated to Aden (until further notice), and the Embassy of Yemen in Washington, DC has officially informed the US Congress to this effect via the Office of the Speaker, the Honorable Mr. Paul Ryan; and via the Office of the Senate Pro Tempore, the Honorable Mr. Orrin Hatch, affirming the following in the letter from H.E. the Ambassador to the US Congress:
“I would like to take this opportunity to also announce to you and to officially apprise the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate of the new and important decision taken by my government, effective immediately, for the relocation of the Parliament of the Republic of Yemen to the city of Aden from its present location in Sanaa, which is currently occupied by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias and armed forces loyal to former President Saleh. This is a significant development (as noted in Presidential Decree No. 19 for 2017 dated January 28, 2017) made by the legitimate and internationally recognized government of Yemen in the interest of supporting the normalization of the government’s operations and the unfettered functioning of Parliament – whose Members in the erstwhile headquarters’ location had faced personal threats and harassments for their political stances or views from the aforementioned groups, and which had precluded them from executing their constitutionally afforded and democratically elected duties”