Male: The Maldives Supreme Court, in a midnight ruling, has annulled the results of the first round elections of September 7, in which Maldivian Democratic Party candidate, Mohamed Nasheed was placed first with over 45.45 per cent of the popular vote, and the Progressive Party of Maldives candidate Abdulla Yaameen was placed a distant second. “A re-run of the first round of polls must be held on October 20, the Supreme Court has ordered,” a senior government official told The Hindu from the Maldivian capital, Male. The verdict was based on a case filed by resort tycoon and a candidate who had been eliminated in the first round of polls, Qasim Ibrahim. He had contended that the first round of polls were not free and fair. Members of his party, and that of the other opposition, had told many members of the international press that the elections were rigged scientifically. When asked for proof, nothing was forthcoming.
All observers during the polls, including local NGO Transparency Maldives, the Indian Election Observer’s team lead by former CEC JM Lyngdoh, the Common Wealth Obervers team, the European Union team, and a team from the United States had praised the conduct of polls. India had earlier expressed its disappointment over the delay in holding the second round. "We are deeply disappointed and distressed that this should have happened. Our understanding of the democratic system is that even if there are imperfections in the election system, those imperfections need to be addressed in a manner which is not destructive of the very process of elections. It won’t be fair of me to comment on a court judgment, it is an interim judgment,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had said.
The conduct of the case at the Supreme Court had left much to be desired. The JP produced witnesses in the Court to attest to “corruption and electoral malpractices.” These witnesses were kept in a different room and their identity was not revealed. Only their voice was heard by people in the court room. Request to divulge their names was refused. Also details of where they voted, or not allowed to vote was not given. There was also no means to cross examine. There has so far, been no independent verification of what they said.
The other surprise was that the Attorney General, instead of appearing for an institution of the country, the Election Commission, actually, appeared for the JP. “That was another surprise to us actually. She has not been in contact with us and then suddenly appeared in the Supreme Court case. The funniest thing is the AG is supposed to support government institutions, but in this case the AG is speaking against the EC. She is supporting JP without evidence or witnesses, just saying there were errors in the voters list, but is not able to cite what those specific errors are because she has not seen [or requested to see] the list,” the Elections Commission Chairperson Fuwad Thowfeeq, told Minivan News.
