Trouble in paradise as Maldives holds election
Sunday 23 September 2018 17:12, UK
By Bethan Staton, news reporter
The Maldives is holding its third multi-party presidential election, between current leader Abdulla Yameen and head of the opposition Ibrahim Solih.
The coral island archipelago is famous as a luxury holiday resort, but those living in its sparkling reefs and beaches are facing what many say is a fight for the future of its democracy.
What's the election about?
Voters are going to the polls on Sunday to decide between current president Abdulla Yameen and Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the leader of an opposition coalition calling for extensive democratic reforms.
Some 250,000 people will be voting in the Indian Ocean nation, from a population of nearly 400,000.
Best-known for pristine white sand beaches and blue waters that have created a base for luxury tourism, the Maldives is made up of more than 1,000 coral islands grouped in 26 ring-shaped atolls.
What is the political situation in the Maldives?
Democracy was established in the country in 2008, and this is the country's third multi-party election.
But the country's political system is fragile. Mohamed Nasheed, who won the vote in 2008, is now in exile after being forced out of office in 2012, and the years since have seen growing authoritarianism.
Mr Nasheed, who famously held a cabinet meeting underwater to draw attention to the threat to the Maldives from rising sea levels, has become a vocal critic of the current government and was granted asylum by the UK.
The decline in democracy has worsened since 2013, when Mr Yameen came to power and extended control over government institutions, rolled back press and individual freedoms, and jailed opponents.
Notably they include his half-brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country between 1978 and 2008.
Why are people concerned about this election?
For much longer than the election period, authorities have been criticised for the detention of opponents, influence on the courts, and suppression of freedom of speech and the press.
The country reached a crisis in February, when the government rejected a court decision to quash terrorism charges against nine major opposition figures, including former president Mr Nasheed.
Declaring a state of emergency and announcing it had put down a coup, the government arrested more senior figures - former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom among them - and cracked down on protesters with violence and arrests.
In the run-up to the election, Transparency Maldives has said suppression hasn't stopped, raising concerns over the possible abuse by the government of state resources to win votes and casting doubt on the independence of the electoral commission.
In a statement the watchdog also raised concerns about voter registration, the leaking of voters' personal information to the ruling party, and challenges faced by the media.
On the eve of the election those concerns appeared validated, when police raided the main campaign office of the opposition candidate's party.
An opposition spokesperson said the raid was based on accusations of vote-rigging, with a senior opposition team member as a suspect.
Supporters, including the exiled office of Mr Nasheed, say this shows the vote will be unfair and that President Yameen will "muzzle his way to power".
There are also concerns about how the election will be monitored: when the government released names of international journalists and observers supposedly covering it, many of those listed pointed out they had been denied visas.
But the country's election chief Ahmed Shareef has insisted things are fair. "We have facilitated whatever the opposition candidate requested, within the regulations and laws permitting us," he said.
As voting began on Sunday, Transparency Maldives said the opening and observation procedures appeared to be going well, although some voters on Twitter complained of queues.
"The main concern now for people is that whoever loses the election will accept these results," Azim Zahir, a researcher who observed queues of up to six hours for Maldivians voting in Kuala Lumpur, told Sky News.
What has the rest of the world got to do with it?
The Maldives is a former British protectorate which lies off the coast of south India and has long had strong links with the superpower next door.
In the course of his presidency, however, Mr Yameen pulled out of the Commonwealth and has drawn closer to China, to the alarm of its direct neighbour.
Chinese loans and support have facilitated the building of major infrastructure in the state, including a massive project now known as the China-Maldives friendship bridge.
Maldivian opposition figures called in February for India to intervene against repression by President Yameen. Analysts says that China could view a change in government as possibly destabilising its relationship with the islands.
Other international bodies have expressed serious concerns over democracy in the Maldives, both now and during February's crackdown.
The European Union and United Nations have not sent observers to the election, for fear that an international presence would be used to validate a rigged vote.