Opposition candidate heads presidential election in Maldives

MALE (Reuters) – Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih took a 16-point lead over incumbent president Abdulla Yameen in the presidential election in the Maldives, according to preliminary interim reports released by local media.

Yameen was expected to strengthen its grip on power due to criticism of the fairness of voting on the best-known islands as a luxury vacation destination.

Closed at 7 pm (1400 GMT), after the Indian Ocean Electoral Commission extended the three hour vote due to long queues at the polls.

Provisional results counted in 433 of 472 polls from 1843 GMT showed that opposition was leading with a margin of 16.6%, the Mihaaru news website reported. Preliminary results for the remaining 9% of the vote have yet to be announced.

The opposition said its own exit polls showed its candidate won 63 percent of the vote, adding the count was closely monitored.

Yameen PPM party officials told Reuters that the results of the areas in which it was strongly supported have not yet been released.

"If we win or lose, PPM has the courage to accept the decision of the Maldivian people," Ahmed Nihan, a member of the ruling party, told Twitter.

The Indian-dominated Indian Ocean nation has become a theater of rivalry between its traditional partner, India and China, which has supported Yameen's infrastructure campaign and raised concerns in the West about Beijing's growing influence.

The Yameen government has imprisoned many of its main rivals, including the former president and his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, accused of terrorism and corruption.

STATE OF THE STATION

More than a quarter of a million people had the right to vote in the coral islands. Yameen, 59, is looking for a second five-year term.

Hundreds of people lined up outside polling stations in the capital, Malé, early Sunday. On some islands, people began queuing on Saturday night.

"I vote to come back to an error I made in 2013. I vote to release President Maumoon (Gayoom)," Nazima Hassan, 44, told Reuters after voting in Male.

Abdul Rasheed Husain, 46, of Male, said he had voted for Yameen to take the Maldives "to the next level".

In the voting booth of the Maldivian Embassy in Colombo, some voters had to wait more than seven hours.

Ahamed Ihusan, a 24-year-old business management student, told Reuters that "it was a free and fair election, the opposition would win" .

Many opposition supporters have accused the electoral commission of the delays.

"Yameen is trying to frustrate voters by having a poor election process and a long 6-8 hour wait in some stations. I ask everyone to be patient and not to take a step back, "an opposition supporter told Reuters, asking not to be named.

Mohamed Shareef Hussain, the Maldives envoy to Colombo, said the Electoral Commission had not allocated enough staff, causing delays.

On Saturday, the police attacked the main opposition office, claiming that it had come to "stop illegal activities" after the arrest of at least five opposition supporters for "influence on voters", said opposition leaders.

British Ambassador James Dauris wrote on Twitter that it was "easy to understand why so many people are concerned about what could happen on election day".

INTERNATIONAL MONITORS REMAIN

Most observers, including those from the European Union and the United Nations, declined the government's invitation to observe the elections, fearing that their presence would be used to support Yameen's re-election even after a possible vote rigging .

Rohana Hettiarachchi, a member of the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), who was designated as an election observer, said that his organization could not participate.

"Our four members have been invited and the Electoral Commission has put our name on the list of international observers. But we did not get the required visa, "he told Reuters.

Transparency Maldives, one of the few election observers on the ground, said the initial vote had gone well and that Solih was on the road to a categorical victory.

"Our quick results indicate that Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidential election of 2018 with a decisive margin," the statement said. "We call on all stakeholders to maintain an environment conducive to a peaceful transfer of power."

The opposition candidate, Solih, told his supporters that he was confident of victory.

"I appeal to everyone to leave no room for tomorrow 's unrest," he said at a rally Saturday. "Let the vote end peacefully and let people decide what they want. People are hungry for change.

Yameen also urged voters to go to the polls and said he was confident in the work he had done during his first term to put the nation on the path to development.

The country has been in political turmoil since February, when Yameen imposed a state of emergency to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that overturned the convictions of nine opposition leaders, including Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader. former president of the country.

Yameen ignored the calls of the United Nations, several Western countries and India for an amicable solution to the crisis.

Before the vote, Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments to put pressure on the Maldives to defend democratic rights.

"If the Maldivian government does not do this, it should impose targeted sanctions, such as those proposed by the European Union, against senior officials of the ruling party involved in abuses," the group said. New York.