Maldives Presidential Election Heads for Runoff
By VOA News
09 October 2008
Maldives' first democratic presidential election is headed for a runoff vote, after Asia's longest serving ruler failed to gain a clear victory in Wednesday's poll.
Preliminary results from Thursday's vote count show President Abdul Gayoom leading his rivals, but not by a wide enough margin to avoid a runoff.
Election officials say Mr. Gayoom, who has ruled the Indian Ocean archipelago for 30 years, received nearly 40 percent of the vote. Opposition figure Mohamed Nasheed is in second place with roughly 25 percent of the vote.
Mr. Nasheed is a long-time rival of Mr. Gayoom, and has been jailed many times on charges human rights groups say were politically motivated.
Some opposition supporters alleged vote-rigging, saying their names were left off of the electoral roll. Mr. Gayoom's party acknowledged there were some problems associated with the election.
More than 80 percent of the Maldives' 200,000 registered voters cast ballots in Wednesday's election.
The presidential election is one of several political reforms Mr. Gayoom promised under international pressure, following a 2004 government crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
President Gayoom's supporters say he has turned the nation into South Asia's richest, by building a tourism industry on the scenic islands. They say he needs more time to build its economy and complete the nation's transition to democracy.
His opponents accuse him of jailing opponents, suppressing dissent and handing out favors to friends and family.
The Maldives is made up of more than 1,200 islands southwest of Sri Lanka. The country is home to about 350,000 people, predominantly Sunni Muslims.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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