By IANS,
Sana`a : Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was elected as Yemen’s new president with 6.6 million people voting in his favour, said the country’s Supreme Committee for Elections and Referendum Friday.
Hadi, 66, who was the sole candidate in the election, will lead Yemen’s transitional government for next two years, Xinhua reported.
The new president has pledged to carry out reforms during his transitional term and is set to launch a national dialogue with all political factions in Yemen after he takes office.
He also vowed to combat resurgent Al-Qaeda off-shoot, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The early presidential election came as part of a negotiated settlement initiated by neighbouring oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Under the Gulf-brokered power transfer deal signed by Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition in November 2011 in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the outgoing president handed over power to his deputy, Hadi, the only consensus candidate in Feb 21, 2012 poll, in return for immunity from prosecution.
The election’s aim was ending one-year-old massive protests against Saleh, the longest-serving president of Yemen, ruling from 1978 until 2012.