YAMEEN SEEKS 2ND TERM AMID CRACKDOWN
Colombo, Sept. 2 3 : President Abdulla Yameen cast his ballot Sunday in a controversial election in the Maldives just hours after police raided the opposition’s campaign headquarters, fuelling fears the vote has been rigged in the Chinafriendly strongman's favour.
Yameen is expected to retain power and has imprisoned or forced into exile almost all his main rivals in a crackdown his critics say is returning the honeymoon island nation to authoritarian rule.
The process is being closely watched by regional rivals India and China, who are jostling to influence Indian Ocean nations. The European Union and United States, meanwhile, have threatened sanctions if the vote is not free and fair.
Yameen voted minutes after polling booths opened in the capital Male, where opposition campaign efforts had been frustrated by a media crackdown and police harassment.
Before polls opened, police raided the campaign headquarters of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and searched the building for several hours in a bid to stop what they called “illegal activities”. There were no arrests.
Yameen's challenger, the relatively unknown Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, also cast his vote. He has the backing of a united opposition but struggled for visibility because the media is fearful of falling foul of heavy-handed decrees. — AFP