Voting underway in controversial Maldives presidential election
Opposition presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has declared victory in the Maldives' third-ever multiparty presidential elections.
Results released by the Elections Commission showed Solih, popularly known as Ibu, securing 133,808 votes compared to the 95,526 for incumbent Yameen.
Mr Yameen, who was widely tipped to retain power, had jailed or forced into exile nearly all of his main rivals.
When the Election Commission announced in June that the Presidential Election would be held on September 23, the opposition parties - Jumhooree Party, Adalath Party and a faction of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives led by Mr. Gayoom - made a decision to join hands to dethrone Mr. Yameen.
"We heartily congratulate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on his victory and hope that the Election Commission will officially confirm the result at the earliest", it said.
Mr Solih's win was unexpected, and opposition party members had feared Mr Yameen would rig the vote in his own favour.
During the election campaign, Yameen had presented himself as a Maldivian nationalist focused on economic development, pointing to infrastructure projects built during his term, including a 2km bridge linking Male to the global airport that opened earlier this month. Amidst growing scepticism over the Commission's independence, Akram told The Hindu from Male over telephone, "I don't know how they [critics] define free and fair election".
Transparency Maldives, a local monitoring group, said its early results had shown Solih was the victor "by a decisive margin".
Solih said his priority is to unite the country after years of heavy-handed rule under Yameen, who is yet to concede defeat.
Under the Yameen administration, China invested millions of dollars in several big-ticket infrastructure projects in the nation in a bid to reverse the nation's original "India first policy".
Party leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed, in exile in Sri Lanka, had hoped to run again but was disqualified because of an outstanding prison sentence in the Maldives.
The opposition rallied behind Mr. Solih after many opposition leaders, including Mr. Nasheed, fled into exile.
For the first time in three years, it was permitted this month to hold a rally, after the government came under pressure for not issuing permits in the past. He has been representing Lhaviyani Atoll in the Maldivian Parliament since then.
Mr. Yameen's campaign manager, Adhlee Ismail, denied in a brief telephone interview that the elections had been rigged.
"There is a huge popular groundswell in favor of change", said Mr. Solih's campaign manager, Mariya Ahmed Did.
The US State Department on Monday called on Yameen to "respect the will of the people". "Under President Yameen, everything has improved", said Latheef, who gave only one name.
Recommended News
-
24 September 2018Two More Women Come Forward With Kavanaugh Allegations
More voters believe Ford, 36 percent, than Kavanaugh , 30 percent, with 34 percent unsure who to believe, the poll found . Grassley also said that Ford's lawyers were attempting to dictate how the committee conducts its hearings.
22 September 2018Three Infants, Two Adults Stabbed at Queens Day Care
All of those injured were taken to hospital in "critical but stable condition", police said, and are expected to survive. Nine babies and some of their parents had been at the home at the time of the attack, police said.
20 September 2018How PAOK could line up against Chelsea
Meanwhile, PAOK should line-up in not too dissimilar a manner to the team which won 3-1 against OFI Crete on Saturday. Of course either Hazard or Pedro will rest on Thursday". "I don't know", he said. -
Spiders are 'having a party' in this terrifying 1,000-foot web
A Greek beach has been turned into an arachnophobe's worst nightmare, as spiders have covered it in a web some 300 metres long. Ms Chatzaki also pointed out that it is a relatively common phenomenon that occurs every couple of years .
22 September 2018Why the Anfield atmosphere actually harms Liverpool in the Premier League
Klopp will likely turn to Daniel Sturridge in Firmino's place. "We scored wonderful goals , they were thunderballs". As for Paris Saint Germain , they will now look to get back to winning ways against Stade Rennes on Sunday.
22 September 2018Cleveland Wins! Browns fans get free beer
Mayfield put the ball in the one place where Landry could get it, while the receiver made one hell of a grab. Cleveland defeated the New York Jets 21-to-17 on Thursday night. -
24 September 2018Vinnie Jones: Man Utd boss Mourinho must be furious with Pogba
I know I lost the ball [for the goal]. 'We didn't lose, but for me we should have won. What's stopping us? I can't tell you because I'm a player.
24 September 2018Tiger Woods: I was close to tears on the last hole
Hobbled by back problems since 2014, Woods underwent spinal fusion surgery a year ago and returned to competition in December. A Woods victory would be an 80th PGA Tour triumph and take him to within two wins of Sam Snead's all-time 82 Tour victories.
22 September 2018José Mourinho: Manchester United’s improved defence not just due to defenders
To further annoy United fans Souness also said he'd rather play alongside James Milner in midfield, saying, "That's easy". I imagine his message to the squad is: look, everyone is against us, let's stick together and do what we have to do. -
21 September 2018Amazon Said to Consider Opening Up to 3,000 Cashierless Stores by 2021
Amazon has been quite cautious in its roll-out of Amazon Go stores that replace the cashier with a smartphone app. But it has pushed back on past reports that executives had given the green light to a major expansion of Go.
21 September 2018First Red Dead Online Details Revealed; Beta Coming in November
However, if GTA Online is any indication, Red Dead Online will probably be built with the potential for ample microtransactions. The demo featured a First Person Mode, similar to what we saw in Grand Theft Auto V.
21 September 2018Meghan Markle brings mom Doria Ragland to her Grenfell cookbook launch
They called their project Hubb, the Arabic word for love, and since January - Meghan has been visiting and cooking with them. FYI: Duchess Meghan is wearing a Misha Nonoo skirt, Smythe coat, and Sarah Flint shoes.
/arc-anglerfish-tgam-prod-tgam.s3.amazonaws.com/public/62LYYGF5D5EWVD56GSJERF75MI.jpg)
