AFP/Male


The Maldives held parliamentary elections yesterday on schedule, despite worries about the ability of the resort island’s turmoil-hit elections commission to stage the ballot successfully.
Results are due to be announced today from the vote in the Indian Ocean holiday
paradise.
President Abdulla Yameen had voiced doubts over whether the elections commission could conduct the vote successfully after the chief and deputy were fired two weeks ago by the
Supreme Court.
But private watchdog Transparency Maldives said the opening of the poll was “smooth, transparent and well-administered” and the government declared the vote had gone off peacefully.
There are a total of 302 candidates, including 23 women, vying for 85 constituencies. Of these, capital Male holds the largest number of constituencies at 13, with seven in Addu city and the remaining 65 scattered across various atolls.
There are also five voting stations abroad with two in Sri Lanka and India and one in Malaysia. There are also five voting stations in prisons. There are 240,652 eligible voters.
Voting commenced at 8am and will end at 4pm, an election official said.
A coalition partner of Yameen had petitioned the court on Thursday seeking a delay of the polls, arguing the commission did not have its full complement of five members to hold a free and fair poll.
But with no court decision, the election went ahead as scheduled, elections commission official Aishath Reema said.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party was the frontrunner in the polls, but observers doubted whether any single party would be able to form a majority in the 85-seat assembly without support from
coalition partners.
The head of the elections commission and his deputy were dismissed March 9 for “disobeying” a court order to adjourn part of last year’s presidential election eventually won in
November by Yameen.
“The commission barely meets the quorum (of three) to hold an election of such importance,” Yameen told a rally in the capital Male on Thursday.
A total of 302 candidates contested the 85 seats in parliament, but the executive president, who is directly elected by the people, has wide powers in the country of 330,000 Sunni Muslims.
More than two-thirds of the 240,000-strong electorate turned out to vote, officials said, citing preliminary estimates.
The dismissal of the two top election commission officials nearly two weeks ago has reignited the controversy over last year’s presidential vote when the Supreme Court annulled the results of a first round won by Nasheed, and then cancelled two other polls at the last minute.
Yameen won the November 16 presidential run-off, five years after the island nation introduced multi-party democracy.
Western nations as well as neighbouring India said they were closely following developments in the country where recent political unrest has dented its image as a tourist draw.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier called for “peaceful and credible elections” while the US has led international concern voiced over judicial interference in independent institutions in the Maldives.


Maldives President Abdulla Yameen casting his vote during the parliamentary elections in Male yesterday.

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