Tag: election

MNDF officers sign appeal not to obey government’s orders following expiry of presidential term

Additional Reporting by Zaheena Rasheed

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers have circulated an appeal calling on their fellow soldiers not to obey “unlawful” orders issued by President Waheed or his political appointees, following the expiry of his presidential term at midnight on November 10.

The five-page document, signed by 73 officers including many mid-ranking officers, is titled “An appeal to soldiers to maintain their oath to be professional and apolitical.”

Given that the Article 107 of the Constitution limits the presidential term to five years,
And given that Article 108 of the constitution mandates the election of a president through a secret and direct vote of the people,
And given the current presidential term ends on 11 November 2013,
We do not believe there will be a president and a Commander in Chief on 11 November 2013 if there is no president elect,
And we believe the positions of President, the cabinet and all individuals  in political posts will expire at 12:00 midnight on 10 November 2013. With reference to the aforementioned constitutional articles, we believe any order they make in the name of any institution on the army and police is unlawful. We call your attention to Article 245 of the Constitution which states that we do not have to obey such orders.
In order to maintain the oath we took in the name of Allah, we have to protect the Constitution.
We swore to sacrifice our bodies and life to [protect the constitution], hence, we know the fundamental aspects of the constitutions. Neither the Attorney General nor other party have to interpret [the constitution] to us.
Hence, we call on all soldiers to respect the Constitution.

MNDF Spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem said he could not verify the petition as he has not seen the petition or received any information regarding the petition.

Colonel Raheem confirmed that the MNDF had promoted over 300 officers on Friday, the last working day before the expiry of President Mohamed Waheed’s term.

Colonel Abdul Raheem said the promotions had been awarded “as per usual procedures”, but said he did not know the specific reason for the promotion of such a large block of soldiers at this time.

An MNDF source meanwhile told Minivan News that the soldiers who had signed today’s appeal “are the backbone of the military, because they physically work out the operational plans. Earlier we saw the leadership’s message, and now the backbone of the military are taking the same stand to uphold the constitution.”

The appeal follows a “letter of concern” sent on Monday (October 3) by senior officers in the MNDF to Chief of Defence Force Major-General Ahmed Shiyam, following the failure of the country to hold scheduled elections on September 28.

An officer who signed that letter told Minivan News on condition of anonymity: “This is not a petition. It is a letter of concern over the Supreme Court’s order to delay elections, the failure of state institutions, and the possible politicisation of the military, and asking that unconstitutional orders not be issued.”

The MNDF reacted by firing, suspending, transferring and demoting many of the officers who had signed the letter, and then introduced new regulation banning officers from inciting “upheaval and chaos [through] speech, writing, action or gesture amongst members of the military.”

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Maldives set for polls after months of turmoil and brinksmanship

Additional reporting by Ahmed Naish

Voting stations will be open November 9 from 7:00am to 3:30pm. Counting will begin half an hour after polls close, with provisional results expected by 11:30pm. A run off will be scheduled for November 10 if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the total votes.

Overseas ballot boxes will open at varying times in each country: Sri Lanka, New Delhi and Trivandrum – 8:00am to 4:30pm; Malaysia and Singapore – 10:30am to 7:00pm; London 9:00am to 5:30pm.

Check where you are registered to vote using the EC’s 1414 SMS system (text 1414 in the format ‘VIS [National ID #]’, or by visiting http://elections.gov.mv/index2715.html

The Maldives is set to head to the polls on November 9 after months of political turmoil and brinksmanship over the suspension, delay, annulment and obstruction of the 2013 presidential election.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed, ousted from power on February 7 2012 by a mutinying police force that attacked military headquarters, armed opposition demonstrators and stormed the state broadcaster before giving him an ultimatum to resign, emerged the clear front-runner in September’s polls with 45.45 percent of the vote.

Nasheed was set to face Abdulla Yameen (25.35 percent), half brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in a run-off on September 28. However the vote was suspended by the Supreme Court after third-placed candidate, resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim (24.07 percent), filed a case alleging vote rigging – despite unanimous positive assessments by more than 1000 local and international election observers.

Gasim was joined in court by Yameen and the Attorney General, Gayoom’s former lawyer Azima Shukoor. Despite a sex video scandal impinging the integrity of at least one judge on the seven member bench, the court on October 8 in a 4-3 majority annulled the vote on the basis of a secret police report that was never even shown to the defence counsel, let alone the public.

That report, since leaked (and translated here), was this morning dismissed by an expert UN review panel.

Following the annulment, the same court held a succession of midnight hearings imposing increasing sets of restrictions on the Elections Commission’s conduct of the polls, including demands that it redo the entire voter re-registration process, and conduct extensive fingerprint verification of forms when no institution in the country had the capacity to do so on such a scale.

One of these restrictions, giving candidates the power to veto the polls by not signing the voter lists – was used by the police as justification for forcibly obstruction the rescheduled election from taking place on October 19, after Yameen and Gasim disappeared and failed to answer phone calls ahead of the signing deadline.

The court’s annulment followed two weeks of street protests, strikes,travel warnings and rumblings of concern from top ranks in the military.

The question in recent weeks, both on Male’s streets and in diplomatic circles, has not been “Who will win the election?”, but instead, “Will there be an election at all?”

“Will there be an election?”

That may finally have been answered after international patience with the delaying tactics appeared to run out last week.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay accused the Maldives’ Supreme Court of interfering excessively in the elections, “subverting the democratic process and violating the right of Maldivians to freely elect their representatives.”

“I am normally the first to defend the independence of the judiciary, but this also carries responsibilities… The Supreme Court appears set on undermining other independent institutions, stifling criticism and public debate, and depriving litigants of the legal representation of their choice,” Pillay stated.

US Ambassador Michele J Sison declared that after “weeks of political bickering and questionable delaying tactics, Maldives democracy is now in peril.”

“Further delays in Maldivian Presidential elections and continued misuse of institutions have already led many in the international community to question the legitimacy of both the process, as well as the outcome of those elections,” she stated.

“Ultimately, the power of any government rests in the consent of its people. If citizens are not allowed to freely express their desires, then those that pretend to govern cannot be perceived as having legitimacy to govern,” she said, calling on Maldivians to “salvage their democratic future”.

The UK’s Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire, declared in British parliament that “Anything short of [scheduled elections] will be unacceptable. I say again to those people listening in the Maldives: the world is watching closely and it wants democratic elections, a democratically elected president and no further impediment to that to be created artificially by anyone in that country, which deserves so much better.”

British MP Karen Lumley went a step further: “What happened smacks to me of a child who cannot win a board game, so they tip over the board,” she said of the decision to annul the September 7 vote.

Following a visit to Male’ this week, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco declared Saturday a “decisive moment for democracy in the Maldives.”

“It is time to allow the people of the Maldives to express their voice and their legitimate will through the ballot box. A continued failure to do so would be a serious setback to consolidating democracy in the country, with potentially serious repercussions, including a very likely negative impact on the already fragile economy,” he warned.

Surprisingly, the final major obstacle to the holding of tomorrow’s polls – Yameen and Gasim’ s continued refusal to sign the voter lists – suddenly evaporated on Wednesday night following the pair’s meeting with Nasheed and President Waheed.

“We made this difficult decision because of the rising anxiety of citizens and the financial loss faced by the state every day that the vote is delayed, to minimise foreign influence on this beloved nation, and to provide the party’s utmost cooperation to elect a president by November 11 by compromising to prioritise national interest ahead of the party’s interest,” read a statement from Yameen’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

The party insists it remains skeptical of the Elections Commission and the integrity of the polls.

Gasim meanwhile told local media he had suddenly reversed his decision not to cooperate in an effort to save the nation from “starvation”.

“The country should not be impoverished because of our bickering at this stage. So as the country has reached this state I don’t want to be obstinate and refuse to sign the list,” he said.

He continued to allege that the EC was “biased” and seeking to install Nasheed as president, despite asserting “100 percent” confidence that he would win.

Nasheed was blunt: “The truth is they finally signed the voter list because a German tourist agency told them to.”

An economic resolution

If a political resolution solution was not found and the country plunged into electoral and constitutional limbo, the final resolution was always going to be economic.

The dire state of the Maldives’ financial affairs was revealed this week by Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad, in a report to parliament’s finance committee.

Tourism growth (as measured in bed nights) flatlined in 2012, plunging to negative 0.1 percent from 15.8 percent growth in 2010 and 9.2 percent in 2011.

“The main reason for this was the political turmoil the country faced in February 2012 and the decline in the number of days tourists spent in the country,” the ministry’s statement acknowledged.

Activists this week hijacked World Travel Market twitter hashtag, flooding the feed of the world’s largest tourism expo with images of political brutality and calls for boycotts of Gasim’s Villa Hotel group.

Foreign banks have meanwhile refused to buy treasury bills (T-bills) from the Maldives, with some even refusing to roll over previously-sold T-bills, while others only agreed to buy them at interest rates of 11 percent, Jihad conceded.

While MVR500 million (US$32 million) a month was needed to pay salaries and allowances for state employees, government income in some months was just MVR300 million (US$19 million), Jihad noted, leaving the government no option but to draw on the central bank’s reserves.

Central Bank governor Fazeel Najeeb meanwhile warned that these reserves – barely several months worth of imports – had fallen so low as to place the Maldives on the verge of having to print money.

The State Trading Organisation (STO) then declared that oil supplies would run dry as soon as November 10 due to its US$20 million debt to suppliers, largely a result of the failure of state-owned companies to front up almost US$40 million in payments, and begged the central bank to bail it out.

The Maldives is dependent on oil for tourism, fishing, power and transport, with petroleum imports amounting to US$248.4 million in the first half of 2013 – representing 29 percent of the cost of all goods brought into the country.

A day later, the European Union rejected the Maldives’ application for an extension of duty free status for fish imports, due to country’s failure to comply with international conventions concerning freedom of religion and women’s rights.

The Maldives exports 40 percent of its US$100 million fishing industry to the EU, its single largest export partner by value. The imposing of the 14-20 percent duty as of January 2014 would lead to a loss of US$1.66 a kilo exported, revealed Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed.

On his last day in office, President Mohamed Waheed meanwhile approved the lump sum payment of three months’ wages to cabinet ministers, a total expenditure of MVR 2 million (US$129,702).

“Who will win?”

With the registries signed, election materials have been dispatched across the Maldives with officials already arriving with ballot papers in the southern-most atolls of Addu and Fuvahmulah.

Transparency Maldives has announced it is ready to monitor the elections, while elections observation teams from the Commonwealth, UN, EU and countries including India and Japan are present in the country. Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek told local media he has been assured by Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim that police would cooperate with tomorrow’s election.

The number of eligible voters in the revote is 239,105, just a few hundred short of the 239,593 registered to vote on September 7, which saw an 88 percent voter turnout.

Campaigning by Yameen and Gasim during the court saga has been muted compared with the lead up to September 7, while the MDP has maintained regular rallies and protest actions following the annulment.

The impact of the annulment and attempts to delay the polls, as well as the behaviour of the Supreme Court and international opprobrium on voter sentiment makes it difficult to predict support for Yameen and Gasim based on the results of the first round. This is especially true in the case of Gasim, whose energetic, incentive-based campaigning ahead of the first round appears to have been diluted by the focus on the court trial.

Foreknowledge of the annulled first round results may also impact non-committal voters in unpredictable ways.

Following the results of the first round, in which the incumbent President received just 5.13 percent of the vote, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) which had been in coalition with Waheed defected to Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Waheed withdrew from the race.

Based on the results of the first round this could be expected to lend up to five percent to the MDP, helping the party close on the more than 50 percent of the vote it so confidently predicted it would achieve ahead of September 7.

Minivan News will be covering the November 9 election via live news blog.

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Expert UN review dismisses secret police report used to justify annulment of Sept 7 polls

The UN has conducted an expert UN review of the secret police report alleging electoral irregularities in the first round of voting on September 7, which was the primary evidence used by a four judge Supreme Court majority to justify annulling the vote.

“We feel confident in asserting that the election was all inclusive, there was no disenfranchisement and the quality of the voter register met international standards,” read a statement today from UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, following his visit to the country.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed led the annulled vote with 45.45 percent, followed by the half brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Abdulla Yameen, with 25.35 percent. Resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim narrowly missed a place in the run-off with 24.07 percent, while incumbent President Mohamed Waheed just polled 5.13 percent.

The 4:3 verdict annulling the vote heavily cited a confidential police report submitted to the court claiming that as electoral register contained 5623 irregularities, such as 2830 “address mismatches”, and as such these votes were ineligible. The report was not released or shown to the Election Commission’s defence lawyers, although Minivan News eventually obtained a leaked copy.

“The UN recognises the assessment of domestic and international observers that the 7 September election was conducted in a satisfactory manner,” stated Fernandez-Taranco, and reiterated “the deep concerns expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights relating to the conduct of the Supreme Court.”

The second attempt at a revote is scheduled for tomorrow November 9, after police forcibly prevented it from taking place on October 19 after Yameen and Gasim refused to sign the voter registry – a new requirement from the Supreme Court effectively giving candidates the power to veto polls.

In a sudden reversal of their refusals as late as Tuesday evening, the pair sent their representatives to sign the registry on Wednesday

“The UN believes that conditions conducive to free and fair elections exist and therefore welcome the presidential candidates’ signature of the Voter Lists, which will allow for the first round of the presidential elections to be held tomorrow,” said Fernandez-Taranco.

“We urge Government, political leaders and all other relevant State authorities, including the Maldives Police Service, to cooperate with the Elections Commission in the conduct of the elections and to seize the opportunity to further consolidate democracy in the Maldives. It is a process owned by all Maldivians and political leaders should demonstrate strong leadership and act in the best interests of the people,” he added.

November 9, he stated, was “a decisive moment for democracy in the Maldives.”

“It is time to allow the people of the Maldives to express their voice and their legitimate will through the ballot box. A continued failure to do so would be a serious setback to consolidating democracy in the country, with potentially serious repercussions, including a very likely negative impact on the already fragile economy,” Fernandez-Taranco warned.

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Comment: No need for Speaker to take charge if elections held, results respected

The Maldives’ Constitution (Article 4) is very clear that our country is a democracy in which all the powers of the State are derived from and remain with the citizens.

In particular legislative power (the power to enact laws that govern our society) lies with a democratically-elected parliament while executive power (the power to act as executor of those laws and see the will of the people reflected in the governing of the country) should lie with a democratically-elected president.

Unfortunately, since the coup of February 2012 we have seen power flicker from one unelected institution to another, in complete disregard of the will of the people as voiced in the 2008 elections: from an unelected president to an unelected supreme court, and from an unelected police commissioner to an unelected attorney-general.

It is now time to place power back in the hands of the citizens. The 88 percent voter turnout in the September 7 polls was that power. It is imperative that November 9’s elections proceed peacefully and with the full cooperation and goodwill of all political parties and State institutions, including the police.

Certain political leaders, as well as members of the Supreme Court, have treated voters with a level of contempt that beggars belief – asking citizens to vote, and when they didn’t like the result, asking them to vote again, and again, and again.

As the UK’s MP for Redditch, Karen Lumley suggested during the Westminster Hall debate on the Maldives this week, this has been like “watching a child who cannot win at a board game tip over the board”.

If our stroppy candidates (who could put Fagin to shame), and their gang of police boys, discredited judges and the unloved President allow these elections to go ahead, and this time they do respect the result, then we will not enter a constitutional void and it will not be necessary for the parliament as the only body in the Maldives which has been democratically elected in a free and fair vote, through the person of the Speaker, to assume executive control.

If, however, unelected individuals once again demonstrate contempt for democracy, if they once again decide that the powers of the State reside with them and not with the citizens, then parliament will be forced to step in as per the Majlis resolution of October 27th 2013.

The Speaker, as the last remaining democratically elected head of the last remaining democratically elected body must take over the interim presidency and ensure a free and fair vote for the people of the Maldives.

To quote President Nasheed, “there is no Houdini to pull the rabbit out of the hat. No magic tricks. No improvisations. We follow the Constitution. We follow the spirit and letter of the Constitution.”

Eva Abdulla is the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Galolhu North, and Asia-Pacific Member of the IPU Committee for Women MPs

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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World wants “no further artificial impediments” to Maldives polls, Swire tells UK parliament

The Maldivian people’s commitment to democracy has not been respected by some of their politicians, the UK’s Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire, has told British parliament.

The Westminster Hall debate on the situation in the Maldives was called on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s scheduled election by UK Conservative Party MP for Redditch, Karen Lumley.

Lumley was a political consultant with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in 2008, and helped train Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party in political campaigning.

“What happened smacks to me of a child who cannot win a board game, so they tip over the board,” Lumley said of the Maldivian politicians’ use of the Supreme Court to annul the September 7 election result, in which Nasheed emerged the frontrunner following his controversial ousting a year and a half earlier.

Hugo Swire told the assembled MPs that politicians attempting to disrupt the elections in the Maldives had, “through various manoeuvres, including calls for military intervention, [sought] to frustrate and impede the democratic process.”

“I want to speak very explicitly and clearly, because I want to leave no one, particularly anyone in the Maldives who is listening to what I am saying or who will receive a report of it later, in doubt,” Swire told the MPs.

“The evidence is that more than 85 percent – how many of us would like to be able to cite that figure for our own constituencies? – of the electorate voted in the presidential elections on 7 September this year, demonstrating their strong commitment to the democratic process. Polls were judged by international and domestic observers to have been fair, free and credible.

“As the Maldives Elections Commission stated, the election was described by observers as ‘one of the most peaceful and best’ that they had seen. That certainly remains our view,” Swire stated.

“Following what appeared to be a weakly substantiated legal challenge from an unsuccessful presidential candidate, the Maldives Supreme Court voted to annul the election results and ordered a restart of the process,” Swire noted, before citing a recent statement from UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in which she accused the court of “interfering excessively in the presidential elections, and in so doing is subverting the democratic process and violating the right of Maldivians to freely elect their representatives.”

“Regrettably, the controversy does not end there. On 19 October, the scheduled re-run was cancelled at the last moment, and the Maldives police service intervened to ensure that the vote could not take place. The cancellation came as a result of the refusal of two candidates to sign the electoral register – one of the 16 onerous conditions imposed by the Supreme Court. That condition in effect allows any one candidate to veto the elections, raising the possibility, as my hon. friend the Member for Redditch says, of further delays,” Swire said.

“We are frustrated and concerned, but not without hope. There are practical actions that can be taken without delay. The voter registers are due to be signed by candidates today.”

Such was the UK government’s concern at “the Maldives’ disregard for [the Commonwealth’s] values that it prompts the question – if the elections do not proceed as scheduled – of whether it is appropriate for the Maldives to be represented at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo,” Swire said.

“It is imperative that the rescheduled elections go ahead as planned. Anything short of that will be unacceptable. I say again to those people listening in the Maldives: the world is watching closely and it wants democratic elections, a democratically elected president and no further impediment to that to be created artificially by anyone in that country, which deserves so much better,” he concluded.

Following a meeting between President Mohamed Waheed and the presidential candidates this morning, Gasim Ibrahim and Abdulla Yameen dropped threats to veto the election made as recently as Tuesday night, and sent representatives to sign the voter registry.

Their sudden turnaround removes a major obstacle impeding the elections, and greatly increases the likelihood of polls taking place as scheduled on Saturday.

A growing delegation of senior international officials and state representatives are meanwhile arriving in the Maldives ahead of the election.

The diplomats arriving include UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Sir Don McKinnon, and a team from India including the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, an outspoken proponent of the need for elections in the Maldives, has meanwhile issued a statement calling for “the will of the Maldivian people [to be] recognised through a free and fair vote.”

“The international community is watching events in the Maldives closely. Canada calls on those in the current Government, security forces and the judiciary to respect the democratic process and not act to circumvent it. As voters in the Maldives go to the polls again on Saturday, they deserve to have confidence that their voices will be heard,” Baird stated.

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US slams “extra-legal” attempts to derail democratic process

“Political differences are not unique to Maldives, and they should not be allowed to derail the process,” United States Embassy in Colombo has said.

Expressing concern over the delay of elections and reports of intimidation of MPs, the statement warns that, “Extra-legal maneuvering and calls for military intervention are neither appropriate, nor acceptable under international law.”

“Such issues could result in damage to Maldives’ international reputation and impact negatively upon the Maldivian economy,” the statement continued.

The third attempt to complete the presidential election has been scheduled for Saturday (November 9), with the date for a potential second round on the 16th.

Following the initial poll on September 7 – which appeared to have set up a run-off between Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed Nasheed and Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Abdulla Yameen – the US urged all sides to accept the results, calling the much-praised poll a “victory for democracy”.

Prior to the re-scheduled October 19 poll, the US had expressed concerns – later realised –  at the potential for continued legal actions to cause further delays.

“Since the September 7 first round of elections were annulled via questionable tactics,  we have been actively engaging with all political parties and independent institutions to encourage a way forward that is in line with Maldives’ constitution,” continued yesterday’s statement.

“As the current government’s mandate expires on November 11, time is of the essence.”

A motion was passed last week detailing transitional arrangements for the Majlis speaker to take the interim presidency, prompting  the Jumhooree Party candidate – and filer of the complaints which led to the annulment of the original poll – Gasim Ibrahim to suggest that handing power over to the military would be preferable.

“Isn’t it better that our military takes over the country to save the country and maintain peace?” local media quoted the businessman and MP as saying.

Repeated delays of the presidential elections have evoked concern from across the globe, with the UK government also expressing its concern that the Maldives’ reputation would suffer should the current political crisis not be resolved with free and fair elections.

Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire told the UK’s House of Commons last week that he feared for the economic future of the country.

MDP candidate and former President Nasheed has also suggested that foreign actors were preparing for economic sanctions should no president-elect be confirmed by November 11.

“Ambassadors of foreign nations that I meet are now saying very openly that if there is no president-elect by November 11 they would have to take action under their normal rules or procedures,” Nasheed has reported.

A recent spate of legal actions against opposition MPs has also caused international concern, with the Inter-Parliamentary Union last week arranging an urgent visit to the Maldives in an attempt to build trust between feuding state institutions.

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Azima appointed special advisor to President Waheed

Less than one week after being removed from her position as Attorney General, Azima Shukoor has been appointed as Special Advisor to President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

The Maldivian Democratic Party had filed a no-confidence motion against Azima, arguing that she had demeaned the constitution, parliamentary powers and the integrity of the Attorney General’s post by advocating against the Elections Commission in September’s vote annulment case.

The appointment comes despite President Waheed’s term being constitutionally scheduled to end in just seven days. Whilst the Supreme Court has suggested he could legally continue in his role until a replacement is selected, the Majlis passed a motion last week providing for the speaker of the house to take over during any interim period.

Waheed himself has said that he does not wish to stay in office past the November 11 deadline. The re-scheduled election is due to take place this Saturday (November 9).

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International Democratic Union condemns “undemocratic” actions of police

The International Democratic Union (IDU) has released a statement condemning the “authoritarian”, “unconstitutional and undemocratic” role of the police in the cancellation of the October 19 presidential election.

“The IDU calls upon the President of the Maldives, the Government and all other political parties to ensure that the Elections Commissioner is empowered to hold a free and fair election to elect a new President immediately without interference from governmental authority,” read a press release from the group’s Executive Committee.

The IDU is a collection of over 54 centre-right political parties from around the globe who meet to discuss and exchange policy ideas. The group’s leadership includes former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and current UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.

The statement also expressed concern regarding potential restrictions on international election observers by the Government of Maldives.

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Commonwealth envoy returns for pre-election visit

Commonwealth Special Envoy for the Maldives will arrive in the Maldives today for a pre-election visit.

“Sir Donald McKinnon, will visit Male’ from 3 to 7 November 2013, as part of his continuing engagement with Maldives to promote the consolidation of democracy, and Commonwealth values and principles,” read a statement on the Commonwealth Secretariat’s website.

During the Supreme Court’s investigation of alleged voter fraud during the first round of the presidential election on September 7, McKinnon advocated strongly for the second round to proceed as scheduled.

“This election marks a renewal of the country’s democratic credentials, with an 88 percent voter turnout. This displays a determination to get the country back on to a sound democratic foundation,” McKinnon said.

International opinion was “firmly behind” the second round of elections proceeding as planned on September 28, he said, noting that “There are always losers in every election everywhere, but the winners here must be the people of Maldives. The results of their votes must be paramount to the process and the result.”

The complaints lodged by third-placed candidate Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party eventually resulted in the decision to annul the first round and to repeat the poll on October 19.

Further complications related to the court’s prescriptive verdict resulted in the eventual delay of the re-vote, with the latest date set for this coming Saturday (November 9).

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