There is some relief now that the presidential election in the Maldives has been completed and its result accepted by all sides. But the outcome has not allayed concerns over the nation’s democratic transition.
Yaamin Abdul Gayoom of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), who is the half-brother of former authoritarian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was sworn in as the Maldives’ new president Sunday, Nov. 17. He narrowly defeated the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted in what Nasheed claims was a coup in February 2012.
The runoff, held Nov. 16 after repeated rescheduling, was the Election Commission’s sixth attempt in two months to hold a vote, as controversial annulments and delays by the nation’s Supreme Court and obstruction by the police followed the first round of polls, held on Sept. 7, in which Nasheed emerged as the front-runner.