Former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed says his side will not abstain from the election process

NewsBharati    21-Sep-2018
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Male, September 21: Former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed has charged that Sunday's Presidential elections are already rigged by President Abdullah Yameen but his side will not abstain from the election process.


 

Addressing a press conference in Colombo today, Nasheed who is in exile now, said that they are taking part in the election process not because they have faith in the election process but because they have faith in their people and peaceful electoral activity.

Nasheed heads the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) and is part of Joint opposition which has put up Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as the combined candidate. The former President asserted that they have 64 per cent of pledged votes and President Yameen can claim victory only by rigging the elections.

Nasheed, who along with several other opposition leaders are disqualified for elections, hoped that India will monitor the situation very carefully and repeated his call for India’s assistance in the conduct of free and fair polls.

Around 2 lakh sixty thousand people are eligible to vote in Sunday's elections which will be third in country’s history after it switched over to democracy in 2008. Maldives government had imposed emergency in the country in February after Supreme court ruled for the fair trial of convicted opposition leaders including former President Nasheed.