Thank you, Washington! Thank you, Riyadh! Yemen is now a democracy!

The single-candidate poll, part of a power transition agreement between the US and the Persian Gulf Arab states, saw Saleh out of power after 33 years of dictatorial rule, and put Yemen's sitting Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi at the helm following months of a raging anti-regime uprising.

Saudi Arabia and the US were quick to brand it as a triumph of democracy. Critics, however, described it as a charade.

"This (the presidential election) is another important step forward in their (Yemenis') democratic transition process and continues the important work of political and constitutional reform," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

Critics, however, say the vote hardly represented a step forward as it failed to reflect the demands and aspirations of the people of Yemen, including justice, the fall of the regime and the trial of Saleh and his cronies for killing some two thousand peaceful protesters. By granting him immunity from prosecution, the deal has made Saleh's trial a practical impossibility.

American author Jeremy Scahill believes, "The fact is that the US has been almost entirely silent in the face of Saleh's forces gunning down their own citizens, which stands in stark contrast to the position that the US has taken on some of the other regimes in the area. And you can't help but wonder if the US is hoping that Saleh holds on in Yemen."

Yemenis want fundamental changes in the way their country has been run in the past several decades. But the Saudi-US-brokered deal puts the kibosh on their goals including genuine elections and accountability for the Saleh regime's deadly crackdown on the overwhelmingly peaceful protests.

But what's at stake for Washington and Riyadh in Yemen? The main goal of the US-Saudi-concocted power transition agreement is to preserve the status quo and to keep the core of the regime immune from the momentous changes that are expected to occur in the wake of a popular revolution.

They are trying to prevent the assumption of power by the revolutionaries who are at the forefront of the peaceful pro-democracy movement. This would mean a definite break with the past and this is something that neither the US nor its staunch ally Saudi Arabia wants ever to happen.

Hadi's election cannot be interpreted as the overthrow of the oppressive regime that was shaped under Saleh, a regime that Hadi was an important part of for two decades. The simple fact is that Yemen has a new leader but the old guard maintains a tight grip on control. Since Hadi became president, no government official has been prosecuted for the killings of the peaceful anti-regime demonstrators. His election is only a political facelift.

Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley, a Washington-based American author and historian, says he doesn't "expect any change from Mr. Hadi. He seems to be part of the Saleh circle and he perpetuates a government where lots of members of the Saleh family still have important posts."

The current situation has driven many observers to come to the conclusion that the US and Saudi Arabia are seeking to continue propping up dictatorship in Yemen and are preventing the establishment of genuine democracy in the country which could have a catalytic impact across the entire Arab world but especially in the Persian Gulf Arab monarchies. Saudi Arabia is bent to abort the revolutions in the Arab world, be it Yemen, Bahrain or elsewhere because the realization of the democratic aspirations and ambitions of the people and their empowerment are major threats to the authoritarian rule of the Al Saud family.

Samer Araabi, a contributor to Right Web and Foreign Policy in Focus, says Saudi Arabia "actively worked to encourage the forces of counter-revolution throughout the region. From Morocco to Bahrain, Saudi financing, support, and intelligence has sought to prevent political turmoil, reinforce existing dynasties, and crush nascent democratic movements before they could reach critical mass. This reactionary tide has been supported by some ideologues in Washington, who worry that Arab democratization would be detrimental to US policy objectives."

Washington's key priority in Yemen is to maintain the security of Saudi Arabia; the world's largest crude oil exporter and a prodigal purchaser of American weapons. The US wants to keep the popular pro-democracy protest movements that are sweeping across the Arab world away from the doorstep of Saudi Arabia that is grappling with a nascent but simmering dissent at home, especially in its oil-rich Eastern Province.

When it comes to choosing between security and democracy, the US has never had a tough choice because security has been its top priority. It uses democracy as a tool to serve its interests.

In June 2005, the then US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, made a speech at the American University of Cairo where she shed light on this policy. "For 60 years, the United States pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East - and we achieved neither," Rice said.

Several months after Rice's speech, Hamas won the democratic elections in the Palestinian lands. Stunned by the election results, the US boycotted Hamas and suspended financial aid to the Hamas-led government. The trend has continued despite the acknowledgement.

In a recent development, the first ever Strategic Forum between the US and the Persian Gulf Cooperative Council was held on March 31 in the Saudi capital where Clinton said Washington wanted to cooperate with the member states of the Council which include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain "to take practical and specific steps to strengthen our mutual security."

She didn't talk about human rights or democracy in these countries while Saudi Arabia and the UAE's troops are continuing to crush a pro-democracy protest movement in Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Naval Fleet.

Washington preaches human rights, democracy and freedom when they suit it and denies them when they don't. It's not basically about protecting these values nor is it about democratic aspirations. It's about Washington's interests. The cornerstone of the US strategy is to establish pawn governments that serve its interests and perpetuate its hegemony. That's why countries with bleak human rights records such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen are not only spared criticism but are rewarded for being aligned with Washington's policies.