MALE: Voters in the Maldives thronged to polling stations yesterday to choose a new president, hopeful that the run-off election resolves a two-year political crisis which has hit the vital tourism sector in the island paradise.
Three previous attempts to elect a new leader have been annulled or postponed in as many months, as narrow election favourite Mohamed Nasheed and the parliament have clashed with a political old guard backed by the Supreme Court.
Tattered pink and yellow party banners were suspended above the capital Male’s narrow streets, providing shade from the hot tropical sun.
Voters queuing up outside the Kalaafaanu School voiced unease about the outcome of the ballot, after an aggressive campaign by the two candidates contesting the second round and following sporadic violent protests in recent months.
Nasheed, who became the Maldives’ first democratically elected president in 2008, left office last year in what he says was a coup. He won 47 percent of first round votes a week ago, short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off. He is up against Abdulla Yameen, a half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for 30 years and is considered a dictator by opponents and rights groups.
Polls close at 4pm (1100 GMT) and Election Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told state television that the final results would be announced early today.
The term of the incumbent president, Mohamed Waheed, expired on Nov 11, but when the Supreme Court delayed the second round of voting following demands by Nasheed’s rivals, Waheed extended his term to fill a constitutional void.
Political analysts say the crisis may continue even if yesterday’s vote goes smoothly, after a bitter election campaign centring on the future role of religion in a largely Muslim state where Islamist ideology is on the rise. Yameen, backed by resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim who was eliminated in the first round of voting, said he was confident of winning between 55 and 60 percent of the vote.
Maldives is a presidential republic, with the President as head of government and head of state.
REUTERS
