The Maldives’ top court delayed holding the second round of the country’s presidential poll yet again yesterday, prolonging a political crisis that has sparked international criticism over the Indian Ocean state’s repeated failure to hold free elections.
Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader who first came to power in 2008 after 30 years of one-man rule, won the first round of voting on Saturday, but failed to win a clear majority.
The run-off was scheduled to take place yesterday, but the Maldivian Supreme Court has delayed it until Saturday this week, in line with demands from Nasheed’s two biggest rivals.
Photo: AFP
The weekend’s poll was the Maldives’ third attempt to elect a new president in as many months, but the democratic process once again broke down amid bickering between political factions.
The delay makes it unclear who will actually be in charge of the country from today, when Maldivian President Mohammed Waheed Hassan steps down. It is yet another distraction for a country known more for its luxury beach resorts than its recent bouts of unrest.
Whoever wins will face a rise in Islamist ideology, human rights abuses and a lack of investor confidence. The political crisis has hit tourism — a vital source of earnings — and the Maldives has faced fuel shortages because it is unable to pay suppliers on time amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
“To delay second-round voting beyond the constitutional requirements for a new government by Nov. 11 will create uncertainties that may destabilize the Maldives,” the US Department of State said in a statement. “It is unreasonable and unacceptable for parties to continue to demand changes to an agreed election date.”
A Sept. 7 vote was annulled based on a secret police report which found vote rigging, while a poll last month was halted by police after a Supreme Court ruling.
Nasheed, who was ousted from power last year in circumstances that his supporters say amounted to a coup, won 46.93 percent of the vote, official results showed.
Nasheed’s main opponent is Abdulla Yameen, a half-brother of former Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the islands for 30 years and was considered a dictator by opponents and rights groups.
Yameen won 29.72 percent of the vote, while resort tycoon Qasim Ibrahim, a minister of finance under Gayoom, secured 23.34 percent.
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS