Maldives prepares for elections
: As election officials made final preparations for nationwide polls in the Maldives, the European Union said it is not sending observers because the country has failed to meet the basic conditions for monitoring.
In the capital, Male, pink and green campaign banners hung in the streets. Election commission spokesman Ahmed Akram said the country was fully prepared to hold a free and fair election on Sunday. But in neighbouring Sri Lanka, exiled former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, a leader of the opposition, said on Friday that the vote could be rigged. A decade after Maldivians took to the streets to welcome democracy to the series of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, voters head to the ballot box in what has become a referendum on whether democracy will stay.
The Maldives’ third multiparty presidential election is being held five years after incumbent President Yameen Abdul Gayoom began consolidating power, rolling back press and individual freedoms, asserting control over independent governmental institutions and jailing or forcing major political rivals into exile.
“There is a need to reorient ourselves and take stock of what we have lost,” said Ahmed Tholal, a former member of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives. “There is a need to ask ourselves if we are willing to allow the hard work of democratizing the country to go waste.”
Beyond the postcard image the Maldives has of luxury resorts and white sand beaches, the citizens of the former British protectorate have struggled to maintain the democratic system established in 2008.
Yameen has jailed two former presidents including his halfbrother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Maldives’ former strongman. AP
MALE, MALDIVES
Maldivian opposition protestors shout slogans. Abdulla Yameen, 59, a civil servant-turned-president, has ruled with an iron fist since 2013. The press has been muzzled, the military used to stave off impeachment and even his own half-brother, former president
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has been jailed. In February, Yameen launched what the UN called an “all-out assault on democracy” and declared a state of emergency that lasted 45 days.
Abdulla Yameen Election irregularities could lead to sanctions. The European Union has said it is ready to impose travel bans and asset freezes. The US has warned it will "consider appropriate measures" if polls are not free and fair.
The Maldives has drifted closer to China, which has given hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. The opposition has fielded a little-known joint candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, 54. Campaigning was tough for the movement, much of which is in exile. Former president Mohamed Nasheed has withdrawn his candidacy The opposition has accused Yameen of laying the groundwork to "steal" the election, a repeat of his controversial 2013 win. Yameen clinched power after the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first round, which had him trailing Nasheed. Analysts and diplomats expect a chaotic situation. If Yameen loses, the opposition expects him to declare an emergency and use the Supreme Court to annul the poll. Even if Yameen loses, he will be president until November 17 under the Constitution.