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Many poll observers were denied visa Around 2,60,000 Maldivians will cast their vote on Sunday in the nation’s third-ever multi-party presidential election since 2008. The election has come under focus amid fears of possible poll rigging and violence. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) said the obstruction of election observers and most media outlets was the “latest sign of polling misconduct”. “The political environment in the country is heavily tipped in favour of the ruling party, as critical media are being subdued into silence, and Opposition figures sentenced to jail terms or forced into exile for politically motivated charges,” ANFREL said. President Abdulla Yameen, of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), is seeking a second term on the platform of development for all, running against senior lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is backed by a coalition of Opposition parties, led by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). The Opposition has been campaigning for restoring democracy in the troubled Indian Ocean Archipelago that is home to nearly 4,00,000 people. ‘By the book’ Emphasising that the elections are being held by the rule book, Ahmed Akram, Commissioner and Spokesperson at the Maldives Elections Commission, said nobody can prove any malpractice or lapse. Amid growing scepticism over the Commission’s independence, Mr. Akram told The Hindu from Male over the phone: “I don’t know how they [critics] define free and fair election. As far as we are concerned, each and everything we have done is by law and regulation.” The Commission has set up as many as 472 ballot boxes, including in four overseas polling stations in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the U.K.
