Maldivians finally vote after months of delays

Voters in the Maldives lined up Saturday in a presidential runoff that comes amid international concerns that the tiny archipelago nation may slip back to strongman rule after long delays in the election. People were arriving at schools being used as voting stations well before polling started in an election that pits the country’s first democratically elected leader and the brother of a longtime autocrat. Mohamed Nasheed, who was elected president in the country’s first multiparty polls in 2008, is favored to win after receiving nearly 47 percent of the vote in the first round on 9 November. His failure to get at least 50 percent for an outright win required a runoff against Yaamin Abdul Gayoom, a brother of 30-year autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. [caption id=“attachment_1233127” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The President of Maldives casts his vote: AP[/caption] Yaamin, received 30 percent of the first-round votes and it courting the support of the third-placed candidate, tourist resort owner Qasim Ibrahim, who received 23 percent. Maldives is under scrutiny after failing to elect a president in three attempts since September and after incumbent President Mohamed Waheed Hassan extended his term in office by six days, purportedly to avoid a constitutional void because the country is past the legal deadline to elect a new president. Some voters told The Associated Press that they were running out of patience. “We are fed up with politics. It has slowed our life. There is no business anymore,” said Abdullah Abeedh, a 25-year-old photographer. The Supreme Court annulled results of an election conducted on 7 September because it found that the voters’ registry contained fake names and those of dead people. Police stopped a second attempt at holding the election because all the candidates had not accepted a new voters’ list as the court mandated. The court intervened again to change the runoff election date, which had been set for the day after the 9 November election. It also ordered Hassan to continue in office despite the official end of his term on 11 November. The European Union warned that the country might slip back to autocratic rule and said it is considering “appropriate measures” if Maldives fails to elect a new president Saturday. It said further delays will be seen as attempts to prevent Maldivians from exercising their democratic rights. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier this week that Hassan’s decision to stay beyond his term endangered the people’s right to elect a new leader and called for the election to be concluded soon. Maldives has seen much upheaval in the five years since its first multiparty election. There has been conflict between the judiciary, Parliament and the presidency, which often worked in different directions. The judiciary and bureaucracy were often accused of being loyal to Gayoom, the former autocratic ruler. Nasheed was elected in 2008 but resigned midway through his term last year after weeks of public protests and declining support from the military and police over his decision to detain a senior judge whom he perceived to be biased. He later said he was ousted in a coup but an inquiry commission rejected the allegation. Maldives is a predominantly Muslim nation of 350,000 people. About 240,000 are eligible to vote Saturday.