President Dr Mohamed Waheed has announced his withdrawal from the rerun of the 2013 presidential election scheduled for October 19, after polling held last month was annulled by the Supreme Court.
Waheed, who came in last place during the now defunct first round of polling held on September 7 with 5.13 percent of the popular vote, said he had taken his decision in the “greater interest”of the Maldives, citing concerns about the integrity of the independent Elections Commission (EC).
“The court found serious flaws with the election register and considered other allegations of irregularities,” stated the President’s Office yesterday (October 11).
Despite both local and international observers praising the September 7 polls and the conduct of the Maldives’ EC, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Jumhoree Party (JP) – whose candidate MP Gasim Ibrahim finished narrowly in third place with 24.07 percent of ballots cast – by ordering a rerun of last month’s poll in its entirety.
Subsequent Supreme Court rulings have since overturned the Election Commission by ordering it to give candidates the choice whether to stay on the ballot paper or withdraw from the election, as well as demanding the entire elections re-registration process be restarted less than 10 days before polling.
While Dr Waheed has stood down from contesting the election rerun, the President’s Office said he would continue with his duties until his term expires on November 11, when the constitution requires a new head of state to be sworn in.
“Disputes arising out of the first round have caused serious disagreements among the political parties, the Elections Commission and the Supreme Court. During the remaining time, the President will do his best to maintain peace and stability, to ensure the election process continues with greater fairness, and to steer the country through these difficult times,” read the statement.
“Although President Waheed scored the least number of votes in the first round, he continues to be highly respected for the calmness with which he has managed the country, and for maintaining peace and stability in the nation.”
President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad was not responding to calls at time of press to clarify whether the incumbent would be lending his support to another candidate standing in the election.
President Waheed last month announced he would be backing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Yameen in the second round run-off vote that was scheduled for September 28. The run-off was delayed and later cancelled by the Supreme Court.
Yameen had finished in second place on the cancelled September 7 poll with 25.35 percent of the votes cast. He was scheduled to compete against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate former President Mohamed Nasheed, who secured 45.45 percent of the popular vote – falling short of the 51 percent needed to secure the presidency during the first round.
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ha ha ha ha
Minivannews, you missed the punchline of this joke.
Here, let me help.
http://i.imgur.com/YkG9sze.png
Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk! We don't need "educated" statesmen who waste our hard-earned money! We need activists, men of the people, rather than the state. People who aren't afraid to walk with us, the people, and listen to our counsel!
Fat lot of good his PhD did him, eh?
Never ever should have been a president. An unelected installed puppet by the coup dictatorship. A common criminal like them now!!
“The court found serious flaws with the election register and considered other allegations of irregularities,”
Let's see:
(1) Based on a secret police "intelligence" report, that court found just over 2% of irregularities. How does that compare to international standards?
(2) That 2%, even IF true has no material impact on the outcome of the election. The maximum change would have been Gasim and Yameen swapping places.
(3) Gasim doesn't want to lick Yameen's back side and wants to be in 2nd place. That was the whole point for him.
(4) PPM wants to just delay elections indefinitely or not hold them at all!
The calmness with which he managed the country! Since the man has no conscience nor any love for his people, he can be totally calm- indifference has this sort of effect.
What an idiot! He was manipulated by Gayoom and is still being manipulated by him. He has lost the respect of all Maldivians as a man who allowed the police to come out and beat the demonstrators, a man who allowed the regime to make up his policies, a man who tried to buy support by increasing the bureaucracy to stupid levels. Worst of all, this 'great 'man of democracy has allowed a corrupt judiciary to take over all the democratic institutions of the nation, thus destroying the rights of all citizens.
I was hoping he would contest again, to see if he could beat his own record!
He is a disgrace to his nation and to the education institution from which he acquired his credentials. No future in lecture circuts, I am afraid.
There is a huge difference between being calm and decisive. Waheed's calmness amounted to being not bothered or even if he was bothered, not having the power or courage to do something about events.
By the time his brain registered an event and his mouth spoke about it, a thousands other events had happened in the meantime. This meant he never caught up with events. The pace of the modern world is just too fast for a man like Waheed.
That's precisely why he is Mr 5%.
This traitor was an installed impotent puppet by Maumoon. Now Maumoon got this puppet to do all the inhuman activities by the Police thugs and deriving sadistic pleasure as well as total power securing from that. Jokers like Jameel who stabbed him in the back are now doing the dirty things he wanted to do but did not dare then in 2008 as he was concerned of the international community. Anyhow now he have got his chance to use fools like Qasim, Jameel and the disgraced judges along with coup leaders Baagi Nazim and Thimarafushi Baagi Riyaz.
It sounds like Waheed n his people do not know the meaning of peace .. Since Feb 7, 2012 all I have seen in the country is hatred, gang and police violence. During his administration I have witnessed the most people been been murdered , most women been jailed n beaten up in broad daylight , assets burned almost daily , youth struggling for justice .. Is this the so called peace they are referring to
Politicians like megalomaniacs always believe they are God's answer.....in your case Allah's answer.....to solving a country's problems.....some sort of divine gift to the people of this world. This man would never have been president if it hadn't been for the police coup. Getting less than 6% of the vote shows how unpopular he was.
I suggest he takes permanent exile in a far away place.....Harare, Pyongyang, Mogadishu or Ulan Bator perhaps. He was virulently anti Indian and should be banned from India for life.
ALL Maldivian politicians with an anti Indian stance should be banned from India for life.....why should we tolerate you?
You dumb people are so lucky I am not the prime minister of India.
Don't forget to vote the second time around and don't screw it up again.