News From Antiwar.com
Yemen’s Arab Spring uprisings culminated in a bizarre election endorsed by the US and the UN. The February 2012 “election,” such as it was, saw Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi running uncontested in a vote for a 2-year term in office. The vote only allowed a “yes” answer, and unsurprisingly Hadi claimed 100% support.
Not exactly a free election, but this is the sole basis on which Hadi can claim a political mandate. When his two-year term failed to pass an election law, he unilaterally extended his term another year, and so on. A decade later, Hadi still claims to be president, even though he’s never run for election again.