Maldivian presidential election, 2008

Maldivian presidential election, 2008

2003 ← October 8 and October 28, 2008

Nominee Mohamed Nasheed Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Party MDP DRP Running mate Mohammed Waheed Hassan Ahmed Thasmeen Ali Popular vote 97,222 82,121 Percentage 53.65% 45.32%

President before election Maumoon Abdul Gayoom DRP Elected President Mohamed Nasheed MDP

Maldives

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Maldives

Constitution Government Executive President Mohamed Nasheed Vice President Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan Cabinet Legislative People's Majlis Speaker Abdulla Shahid Judiciary Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Courts Supreme Court High Court Magistrates' Courts Elections Presidential: 2003, 2008 Parliamentary: 2003, 2008 Local Council: 2011 Referendums: 2007 Political Parties List of political parties Major Parties: MDP DRP Divisions Provinces & Atolls Natural Atolls Local Councils Foreign Policy Foreign relations Foreign aid Other Law enforcement Evolution of Judiciary

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Presidential elections were held in the Maldives on October 8 and 28, 2008.^[1] On October 8, no candidate gained more than 50% of the vote; a runoff was held on October 28^[2] between Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed and his running mate, Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan.^[3] Nasheed and Dr. Waheed won the election, unseating long time incumbent Gayoom.^[4]

The election was the first one held democratically in the history of the Maldives.^[5]

Background

The election was initially planned to be held on October 4,^[6] but had to be delayed after the Majlis (national assembly) did not pass necessary reforms on time.^[7]

The incumbent, President Gayoom, in power since 1978, ran for another five-year term. According to the new Constitution, which came into effect on August 7, 2008, Gayoom had served the maximum number of terms allowed (two). He argued that since the election was held under a new constitution, the previous terms did not count toward the limit.^[8] The Supreme Court agreed that the limited terms were to be served "under this Constitution" and that Gayoom was therefore eligible to run in the election.^[9]

On August 25, 2008, the Maldives National Congress and the Justice Party announced that they would support Republican Party candidate Qasim Ibrahim.^[10] On September 3, 2008, the six candidates participated in a televised debate.^[11][12]

Voting

First round

There were 208,252 eligible voters in the Maldives in the first round, which is roughly 60% of the population.^[13] There were a total 396 polling stations throughout the country.^[14] Additionally, registered Maldivians living in Colombo, Thiruvananthapuram, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were permitted to vote in Maldivian embassies and consulates.^[14][15]

Voters went to the polls on October 8, 2008 starting at 09:00 local time (04:00 UTC), and expecting to end at 20:00 (15:00 UTC).^[16] The elections were peaceful, though voting irregularities prevented some voters from voting.^[17] Lines to polling stations were long on some islands, with waits sometimes exceeding six hours.^[18] A number of citizens, especially of the opposition to the ruling Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), were found to be not on the voter list, even though they had registered, and some islands did not even receive voter lists.^[19][20] Later, the election committee said that anyone could vote, as long as he or she showed an ID card that was valid.^[18] A handful of riot police were deployed after 300 protesters gathered around the central vote-counting location, Nasandhura Palace.^[20]

Ahmed Shaheed, the independent vice-presidential nominee said, "It's a disaster... I think there is deliberate tampering."^[18] MDP chairwoman Mariya Didi, who incidentally registered but was not on a voter list, echoed similar concerns: "We hoped that once in our lifetime we could vote freely, but today we are being denied our right to vote."^[19]

Election observers from the Commonwealth of Nations issued an interim report stating that the first round of the election was "reasonably credible" but that there were some problems with the voter list and training of officials and educating voters.^[21]

Second round

In the second round, 209,294 people were eligible to vote.^[22] There was a total of 403 polling stations across the Maldives.^[22] Registered voters were also able to cast ballots at Maldivian embassies and diplomatic missions in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.^[22]

Voting progressed fairly peacefully, though there were some problems, such as people being not registered, preventing them from voting.^[22]

Results

First round

Six candidates competed in the first multi party election ever held in the Maldives. Early results indicated that there would be a runoff between Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed and his running mate, Dr. Waheed.;^[23] on the morning of October 9, 2008, the results showed Gayoom ahead with 40.3% against Nasheed and Dr. Waheed's 24.9%.^[24] Those results stayed the same, and the four other candidates were eliminated, so a runoff between Gayoom and Nasheed was necessary.^[25] Although Gayoom failed to win in the first round, as he had hoped, he expressed satisfaction with his score. According to Gayoom, the results showed that he was the Maldives' "most popular public figure", and he said that he was poised for victory in the second round.^[26]

Second round

Following the first round results, it was announced that the second round would be held on October 29, although election law provided for the second round to be held within 10 days of the first. Election Commissioner Mohamed Ibrahim said that this later date would give the candidates more time to campaign and would give the electoral commission more time "to correct issues with the voter registry".^[26]

Third-place finisher Hassan Saeed, a former attorney-general, threw his support to Nasheed and Dr. Waheed for the second round.^[25] Ibrahim Ismail also backed Nasheed and Dr. Waheed, and the other two candidates were expected to vouch for Nasheed as well.^[27]

Maldivian presidential election, 2008[28][29]v · Democratic-Alliance								Mohamed Nasheed	Mohammed Waheed Hassan	44,293	24.91%	97,222	53.65%
	Dhivehi Rayyithunge	Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (inc.)	Ahmed Thasmeen Ali	71,731	40.34%	82,121	45.32%
	Independent	Hassan Saeed	Ahmed Shaheed	29,633	16.67%
	Republican	Qasim Ibrahim	Ahmed Ali Sawaad	27,056	15.22%
	Islamic Democratic	Umar Naseer	Ahmed Rizwy	2,472	1.39%
	Social Liberal	Ibrahim Ismail	Fathimath Nahid Shakir	1,382	0.77%
Invalid or blank votes				1,235	0.69%	1,861	1.03%
Totals				177,802	100.00%	181,204	100.00%
Voter turnout				85.38%		86.58%

References

1. ^ "Maldives presidential poll now set for Oct. 8". Reuters. 2008-09-17. http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINCOL19257120080917. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
2. ^ "Official presidential election results announced". Miadhu Daily. 2008-11-02. http://www.miadhu.com.mv/news.php?id=8285. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
3. ^ "Maldives poll goes to second round". Al Jazeera English. 2008-10-09. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2008/10/200810919567428893.html. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
4. ^ "Maldives president loses election". The Sydney Morning Herald. Agence France-Presse. 2008-10-29. http://news.smh.com.au/world/maldives-president-loses-election-20081029-5azy.html. Retrieved 2008-10-29. 
5. ^ "Vote count underway after landmark Maldives election". Agence France-Presse. Google News. 2008-10-08. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzn93B6k35o1gCMbKAeK6gr7Qk_Q. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
6. ^ "Elections Slated For 4 October". Minivan Daily. 2008-09-08. http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=4950. Retrieved 2008-09-09. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Maldives elections 'are delayed'". BBC News. 2008-09-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7608614.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
8. ^ "Maldives adopt new constitution". BBC News. 2008-08-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7547725.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
9. ^ "Supreme Court declares Gayoom can contest in the Election". Miadhu Daily. 2008-10-03. http://miadhu.com.mv/news.php?id=7994. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
10. ^ "Maldives National Congress and Adhaalath Decides to Support Republicans". Raajje Khabaru. 2008-08-25. http://realitymaldives.com/news/?p=480. Retrieved 2008-09-06. 
11. ^ "Country’s First Ever Presidential Debate Takes Place". Raajje Khabaru. 2008-09-04. http://realitymaldives.com/news/?p=666. Retrieved 2008-09-06. 
12. ^ "Presidential Q&A: What The Candidates Said". Minivan Daily. 2008-09-04. http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=4939. Retrieved 2008-09-06. ^{[dead link]}
13. ^ "Election Commission urges for a free and peaceful election". Miadhu Daily. 2008-10-08. http://miadhu.com.mv/news.php?id=8034. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Maldivian nationals in Kerala cast vote in their presidential elections". Daily India. 2008-10-08. http://www.dailyindia.com/show/276348.php. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
15. ^ "Election Commission urges for a free and peaceful election". Miadhu Daily. 2008-10-08. http://www.miadhu.com.mv/news.php?id=8034. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
16. ^ Evans, Judith (2008-10-08). "Maldives hold historic presidential poll". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE4973NB20081008. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
17. ^ Pasricha, Anjana (2008-10-08). "Maldives Holds Its First Democratic Presidential Election". Voice of America. http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-10-08-voa22.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. ^{[dead link]}
18. ^ ^{a b c} Nessman, Ravi (2008-10-08). "Maldives votes in first democratic election". Associated Press. Google News. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2FRBL6uLk-ZP2WVB9ilkpLqz9UAD93MB3E80. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "Maldives opposition says poll rigged". Taipei Times. 2008-10-09. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2008/10/09/2003425417. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
20. ^ ^{a b} Lang, Olivia; Rasheed, Zaheena (2008-10-08). "Elections May Be Called Off". Minivan Daily. http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=5107. Retrieved 2008-10-09. ^{[dead link]}
21. ^ Arthur, Owen (2008-10-10). "2008 Maldives Presidential Election - Interim Statement". Commonwealth of Nations. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/document/184259/101008interimstatement.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
22. ^ ^{a b c d} "Maldivians vote in run-off election". Miadhu Daily. 2008-10-28. http://miadhu.com.mv/news.php?id=8247. Retrieved 2008-10-29. 
23. ^ Evans, Judith (2008-10-09). "Early Morning Unofficial Results Suggest Gayoom-Anni Runoff". Minivan Daily. http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=5120. Retrieved 2008-10-09. ^{[dead link]}
24. ^ "Gayoom faces run-off in Maldives". BBC News. 2008-10-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7660464.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
25. ^ ^{a b} Nessman, Ravi (2008-10-09). "Maldives leader faces runoff in 1st free election". Associated Press. KOHD. http://kohd.com/news/international/story-53196. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
26. ^ ^{a b} "Maldives run-off vote set for October 29". Agence France-Presse. Google News. 2008-10-10. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gl-Bi2YpRxOZ7kl_npdqmNAxn7sQ. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
27. ^ Rasheed, Zaheena (2008-10-10). "Anni Says Whole Opposition Is Behind Him". Minivan Daily. http://www.minivannews.com/news_detail.php?id=5132. Retrieved 2008-10-09. ^{[dead link]}
28. ^ "Presidential Election 2008 Final Results" (in Dhivehi) (PDF). Elections Commission of the Republic of Maldives. 2008-10-14. http://www.elections.gov.mv/dhivehi_version/PresidentialElection2008FinaResult.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
29. ^ "Presidential Election 2008 Final Results (Runoff)" (in Dhivehi) (PDF). Elections Commission of the Republic of Maldives. 2008-11-01. http://www.elections.gov.mv/dhivehi_version/FINALRESULT2008RUNOFF/Natheeja%20Iulaanu%20NO.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 

External links

• Elections Commission of the Maldives (Dhivehi)