Maldives presidential polls: Consensus reached for 9 November elections

Male: Maldivian President Mohammed Waheed today said that all the three candidates for the country’s controversy-ridden presidential election have reached a consensus on holding the poll on November 9. Emerging from a closed-door meeting with the three candidates, including former president Mohamed Nasheed, Waheed said, “They have reached a consensus on the issue (of holding presidential elections on November 9),” according to the President’s Press Secretary Masood Imad. [caption id=“attachment_121589” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maldives president. AFP image[/caption] The President later met with the Election Commission seeking its opinion on the poll date, after which the Commission agreed to hold the exercise on November 9 and to conduct a run-off, if required, on either November 10 or 11. Besides Waheed and Nasheed, leader of Maldivian Democratic Party, today’s meeting was attended by Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Abdullah Yameen, a brother of Maldives’ former autocratic ruler Abdul Gayoom, and Jumhoory Party candidate Gasim Ibrahim. As per the Maldivian Constitution, the election process should be completed in such a manner that a new President takes office by the deadline of November 11. During the polls held on September 7, Nasheed got 45.45 per cent of the votes, leading to a run-off because he did not get the mandatory 50 per cent of the votes. However, the run-off was cancelled by the Supreme Court which then ordered fresh polls but police blocked a presidential re-vote on October 19, plunging the country into a fresh crisis. After the country’s first democratically elected President, Nasheed, resigned under duress in February 2012, he was succeeded by Waheed, who was then Vice-President. The Maldives has been in political turmoil ever since Nasheed’s removal. Waheed’s term ends on November 11 and if no new candidate is elected, it might spark a constitutional crisis in the nascent democracy. PTI