After failing to secure more than 50 percent of the votes needed to get elected in Maldives' first-ever multi-party presidential election, the incumbent president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the opposition's Mohamed Nasheed will face a showdown in a run-off on Oct. 29.
Elections Commissioner Mohamed Ibrahim told reporters midnight on Thursday that at the Indian Ocean archipelago's presidential election held on Wednesday, Gayoom came first with 71,731 votes or40.63 percent of the total 176,567 valid votes.
Gayoom, who has been the president since November 1978, ran for the presidency for the 7th time representing the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP or the Maldivian People's Party).
He was followed by Nasheed, who bagged 44,293 votes or 25.09 percent of the total.
The commissioner announced that the second round election will be held on Oct. 29 which will see a showdown between Gayoom and Nasheed.
According to the new constitution ratified by Gayoom in August, the president shall be elected directly by the people and over 50 percent of the votes are needed to be elected.
If no candidate obtains such majority, a run-off election must be held within 21 days after the first election. It will be contested by the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first election.
Ibrahim said other votes were divided among the independent candidate Hassan Saeed (16.78 percent), the Jumhooree Party's (Republican Party) Qasim Ibrahim (15.32 percent), the Islamic Democratic Party's Umar Naseer (1.40 percent) and the Social Liberal Party's Ibrahim Ismail (0.78 percent).
He said the turnout was 85.38 percent and the election was largely free and fair.
Some people gathered in Male on Wednesday to protest that their names were not appear on the polling list. The issue was solved later as the Elections Commission allowed all eligible voters having National Identity Cards to vote.
Supporters of Gayoom and Nasheed celebrated their candidates' victories separately Thursday night, with Nasheed vowing to beat Gayoom in the run-off.
"We are very confident that we will not only be able to get those who voted with other opposition parties, but we will also get a fair part from those who voted for the DRP," Nasheed told his cheerful supporters and the media.
Nasheed's campaign organizers said several other opposition candidates have expressed their support to Nasheed without any condition.
Nasheed said he did not expect a fair election in the second round, but he can get elected in a "reasonable" election.
Nasheed was born in 1967 and majored Maritime Studies in Liverpool University of Britain. He was the co-founder of the MDP, which was registered in the Maldives in June 2005.
Officials from the MDP said the main goals of the party are promoting human rights and democracy in the Maldives.
Nasheed is regarded as an outspoken critic of President Gayoom and his policies.
Analysts say Gayoom will have a hard time in a run-off if supporters of the other opposition candidates rally behind the MDP' s candidate Nasheed.
More than 1,000 local and foreign observers monitored the voting and counting process of the first round. They said the election process was peaceful, although some complaints have been reported.
Elections Commission's Complaint Bureau Manager Nadine Washeed said on Thursday that her office recorded 1047 complaints, most of them relating to the registration of the voters.
"Until all the complaints have been investigated and solved, we can not say the election is free and fair," Washeed said.
Gayoom has been claimed to be a dictator by the oppositions although the Maldives became South Asia's richest country under his leadership.
He has been accused of nepotism, because several family members, in-laws and close relatives of him held high posts in his government and cabinet.
With a population of 300,000, the Maldives are a group of 1,192islands scattered across 800 km of the Indian Ocean neighboring India and Sri Lanka.
Supported by tourism, fishing and shipping, the 850 million-U.S.-dollar economy grew by 7.6 percent in 2007 and the Maldivian government expects the economy to grow by 8.3 percent for 2008.
However, the IMF said the economic growth would slow to 6.5 percent in 2008 and its inflation would double to around 15 percent.
Source: Xinhua
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