Yemen's Houthis reject results of their own parliamentary elections

The rebels had hopes for their candidate Abdulsalam Hashal to win the election, but were shocked to find Abdo Bishr had received three more votes, with a total of 93.

The rebels refused to announce the results of the election and requested the news not be reported on local media, a source told Yemen Monitor.

As a result, the rebels called for the arrest of Bishr.

In 2019, the Houthis held elections to fill the 31 vacant seats in parliament, all of which were awarded to members of the group. 

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The rebels, who go by their official political party Ansar Allah, captured control of the capital and all government institutions, as well as other major cities, in 2014.

Just months later, Saudi Arabia convened a military coalition to intervene in the neighbouring country in a bid to reinstate the government and push out the rebels.

The coalition, which is backed by Western powers including the US, intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa but it has struggled to oust the militia.

Since then, more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

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