The Yemeni people voted today to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power after a 33-year rule.
Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ran in the uncontested race, a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council to neutralize the conflict engulfing the country.
According to media reports, President Ali Abdullah Saleh is now in the United States seeking treatment for burns for which he sustained during a bomb blast in his palace mosque in June 2011.
U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today congratulated the people of Yemen on today’s successful presidential election.
“This is another important step forward in their democratic transition process and continues the important work of political and constitutional reform.” -Ms. Clinton
She states that today’s election sends a clear message that the people of Yemen are looking forward to a brighter democratic future.
However, Ms. Clinton pointed out that there is still more work to be done in Yemen.
She reports that as part of the GCC Initiative, Yemenis will convene a National Dialogue Conference to address critical issues of national unity and the fundamental structure of Yemeni government and society, while taking steps to address urgent economic, social, and humanitarian challenges.
She stresses that the United States, along with its partners in the international community, will continue to support Yemen as it works to implement these reforms and confront these challenges so that all Yemenis will have the opportunity to realize their potential.
Large segments of the population of Yemen are enduring chronic deprivation exacerbated by the breakdown of the delivery of essential social services as a result of civil unrest and widespread violence.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting in Abyan Governorate in the south in recent months.
In the north, about 300,000 people were displaced by the conflict in Sa’ada. Many of them are unable to return to their homes because of insecurity, fear of retaliation, and loss of livelihoods and assets.
It is estimated that the recent political turmoil in Yemen, part of a wave of protests across the Middle East and North Africa calling for social, economic and democratic reforms, has led to more than 82 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
