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MALE (Reuters) – Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has taken a 15-point lead over incumbent president Abdulla Yameen in the presidential election in the Maldives, according to preliminary accounts released by local media.
Maldivian election commission officials prepare ballot papers for counting votes at a polling station at the end of the presidential poll in Male, Maldives, September 23, 2018. REUTERS / Ashwa Faheem
Yameen was expected to cement his grip on power, amid criticism of the fairness of voting on the islands, better known 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.
According to local media reports, Mihaaru, provisional results counted in 250 of the 472 polling zones at 16:40 GMT showed that the opposition was leading with a margin of 15.4%. Provisional results for the remaining 222 voting boxes, with an estimated 130,000 voters, have not yet been released.
The opposition said that their own exit polls showed that their candidate won 63% of the vote and was closely following the count.
Yameen's party officials told Reuters that results from areas where he had strong support have yet to be released.
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, on charges ranging from terrorism to corruption.
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 "if it's a free and fair election, the opposition will 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 worried 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 voice.
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 actually 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 smoothly.
The opposition's common candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, told Ibu, 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.
(This version of the story has been refiled to correct a typographical error in the title)
Additional report by Ranga Sirilal; Written by Shihar Aneez and Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Nick Macfie, Louise Heavens and Kirsten Donovan
