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alp227

(31,962 posts)
Sat Feb 25, 2012, 02:42 AM Feb 2012

Yemen Gets New Leader as Struggle Ends Calmly

Vice President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi will be sworn in as president of Yemen on Saturday morning in front of Parliament after it was announced Friday that he had won the country’s single-candidate election with 99.6 percent of the vote.

The election, held across Yemen on Tuesday, was intended as an exit route for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an autocrat who had agreed to step down after more than three decades in power and a year of antigovernment demonstrations calling for his removal. Mr. Saleh agreed to an internationally brokered accord last November that stipulated how the presidency would be transferred to Mr. Hadi. Tuesday’s elections were the culmination of that accord, which also granted Mr. Saleh immunity from prosecution for such things as turning his security forces on unarmed protesters calling for democracy before he agreed last year to relinquish power. Dozens were killed, and some in the military sided with the opposition.

While Mr. Hadi was the only candidate on the ballot, voter turnout was higher than all sides had anticipated.

A campaign over the past week to encourage Yemenis to vote — partly financed by foreign countries — included pro-election commercials starring famous local actors on Yemen television stations and billboards in Sana.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/yemen-to-get-a-new-president-abed-rabu-mansour-hadi.html

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Yemen Gets New Leader as Struggle Ends Calmly (Original Post) alp227 Feb 2012 OP
Farcical. A Potemkin election. TahitiNut Feb 2012 #1
Yeah, everything will be so much better now. All the problems will be solved and Fool Count Feb 2012 #2

TahitiNut

(71,611 posts)
1. Farcical. A Potemkin election.
Sat Feb 25, 2012, 05:31 PM
Feb 2012

Authoritarian indoctrination is deep-seated and difficult to overcome.

 

Fool Count

(1,230 posts)
2. Yeah, everything will be so much better now. All the problems will be solved and
Sun Feb 26, 2012, 08:17 PM
Feb 2012

Yemenis will live happily ever after.

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