The United States said Tuesday it was "encouraged" by Yemen vote and said it expected progress in a transition to democracy. "We are encourage and we congratulate the Yemenis for really launching this process, taking ownership of it as a population, and we will stand with them as they take the next steps," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "We consider it to be a very strong and positive referendum by the Yemeni people on the transition process that their leaders have agreed to," Nuland told reporters. Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was the only candidate on the ballot. He will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period under a Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered power-transition deal signed by Saleh in November. Nuland acknowledged that a one-person vote was not a "true democracy" but called it a "beginning point" for a more competitive process. "After they have a new constitution, our expectation is it will lead to full, free, fair, multi-party, multi-candidate elections, both for the legislature and for the executive," she said.
