The Maldives’ election commission on Saturday officially endorsed thevictory of the opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in last week’s presidential polls amid concerns that Maldives outgoing President Abdulla Yameen is trying to hold on to power. Salah Rasheed, the election commission’s secretary general, said Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party won the polls with 58.4 percent of the ballot. Although election monitors had warned of rigging by the incumbent, Yameen could secure only 41.6 percent. Solih was backed by four opposition parties, three of which supported Yameen in a controversial 2013 runoff that the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, lost narrowly. Solih is expected to be sworn in on November 17 when Yameen’s term comes to a close.
The election commission had released provisional results on September 24, but delayed official results of the September 23 polls due to legal complaints about irregularities during the election.
Ahmed Shareef, the election commission chief, said he had received 423 complaints by Thursday, of which 193 were outstanding.
“The Complaints Bureau and the Commission have decided that none of the complaints filed with the commission will affect the outcome of the election,” Shareef told reporters in the capital, Male.
Full Article: Maldives election commission confirms Solih′s victory despite threats | News | DW | 29.09.2018.
