Gulf Times

Maldives leader blames defeat on ‘disappeari­ng ink’

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Outgoing Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has told the Supreme Court that disappeari­ng ink and specially treated ballot papers were to blame for his heavy election defeat last month.

The comments came as the court considered a petition by Yameen to have the September 23 election result annulled due to what his party called “rampant” vote-rigging.

Yesterday afternoon the five-judge bench put off the case until next day when it will announce whether to allow testimony from three unidentifi­ed witness named by Yameen’s lawyers.

His lawyers told a packed court room that the trio of yet unidentifi­ed witnesses could substantia­te Yameen’s allegation­s.

However, the country’s independen­t Elections Commission (EC) through its lawyers insisted that the petition was based on false allegation­s and should be dismissed.

Local media also reported four of the five election commission­ers have fled the country and sought refuge in neighbouri­ng Sri Lanka following death threats after Yameen lost the September 23 vote.

The strongman leader of the honeymoon island nation had been expected to romp home in the election, with opposition leaders jailed or exiled, and warnings that he would try to fix the vote.

But in a surprise turn of events, a little-known united opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, was declared the winner, sparking celebratio­ns across the tropical holiday destinatio­n.

Yameen initially said he accepted defeat, and was ready to step down when his term ends on November 17. But last week he launched the Supreme Court challenge seeking a fresh vote.

At a hearing on Sunday which resumed yesterday, Yameen’s lawyer Mohamed Saleem accused the printer of coating ballot papers with an unnamed substance to make votes marked in Yameen’s box vanish.

Saleem said a “special pen with disappeari­ng ink” was also given to people who were going to vote for his client, a reporter at the hearing said. Counting officials also allegedly carried secret pens with which they marked ballots for the opposition.

A lawyer for the EC denied any wrongdoing, including using any special ink. Yameen had also accused the EC of colluding with the printer of the ballots.

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