Moves afoot to bar favourite Nasheed from Maldives’Oct.19 presidential polls

A fresh presidential election has been scheduled for October 19 in the Maldives after its Supreme Court annulled the first round of voting held there in early September, citing electoral fraud.

The fresh poll has been scheduled amidst moves by political opponents of former President Mohamed Nasheed who emerged front runner in the first round of the annulled poll, to bar him from re-contesting the election.

The case to bar Mr. Nasheed was filed in the Maldivian Supreme Court by a member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), whose candidate Abdulla Yameen was scheduled to run against Mr Nasheed in the run off to the presidential poll held on September 7. In the first round, Mr Nasheed who heads the Maldivian Democratic party (MDP) won 45 per cent of the vote, while PPM’s Mr Yameen won around 25 per cent of the vote.

Former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem, a se- nior member of the MDP, told the Sunday Times that his Party is gravely concerned about the developments over the past weeks and expressed concerns that a free and fair poll would not be held. “There are threats to the lives of opposition politicians, and people too are being threatened and intimidated,” he said.

Ahead of next Saturday’s poll, the Elections Commission in Male has begun re-registering voters, as there were allegations that the process had been flawed on the previous occasion.

However, the re-registration process has also raised fears that the fresh election may not be held on the scheduled date. “Under the Maldivian Constitution, a new President has to be sworn in by November 11. If this does not happen, we will have a constitutional crisis,” Mr Nassem said.

He also said that more international pressure must be exerted on the Maldivian government to hold free and fair elections. “If there is no regime change in the Maldives, on the constitutionally required date, the Sri Lanka Government should not entertain the delegation from the Maldives for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for mid-November,” he added.

Meanwhile, the political instability in the Maldives has drawn more reactions from the international community, with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Sir Donald McKinnon’s Special envoy to the Maldives urging that government to ensure that the presidential election is fully inclusive, so that the Maldivian people are free to choose a president from among candidates already officially approved.

A Commonwealth observer group had, along with other foreign and local observers, reported that the September 7 poll was credible.

The European Union too has urged that the elections planned for October 19 take place in full compliance with national and international standards, and that the Maldives’ democratic institutions are safeguarded and the will of the people respected.The United States too, in a statement said it is deeply concerned about continued legal actions that could further delay the Maldivian presidential election, and prevent former President Nasheed from participating.

“With the Maldivian Supreme Court ruling that a new round of elections must be held and the Elections Commissions making preparations for voting by October 20, it is important that the process go forward unimpeded in a fair, inclusive and transparent way,” the US statement said.