India has indicated that all political parties should accept the results of the first round of the Maldives presidential elections and that it was “of utmost importance that electoral process is allowed to proceed unhindered” so that the second round is held on September 28.
India’s response comes a day after the Maldives Supreme Court conducted the first hearing of the legal challenge by Jumhoree party, which has called for annulling the results of the September 7 first round polls. JP presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim came third and was automatically barred from the run-off between the top two candidates.
The second runner-up, PPM’s Yameen, has also joined the forces, claiming that the Election Commission used malafide methods to conduct the polls. The Attorney General also said that there were “serious” concerns about electoral fraud. Incidentally, the current incumbent President Mohamed Waheed came last with only five per cent of the votes. The maximum votes were garnered by MDP’s Mohamed Nasheed at 45 per cent. “It is important that all sides respect the verdict and aspirations of the people of the Maldives. We hope that the second round of Presidential elections will be held as scheduled on September 28 in a similar transparent, organised and peaceful manner,” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
He pointed out that “high-level delegation of Indian observers as well as international observers from the UN and Commonwealth have all noted that polling was fair, transparent and orderly”.