Maldives extends voting in tense presidential polls

MALE: The Maldives extended voting in the presidential election, in which Abdulla Yameen is expected to cement his grip on power, amid criticism over the fairness of the poll in the islands, best known as a luxury holiday destination.

The Indian Ocean nation´s Election Commission has extended voting by three hours to 1900 hours (1400 GMT) due to long queues, an official said.

The Muslim-majority Indian Ocean nation has become a theatre of rivalry between its traditional partner, India, and China, which has backed Yameen’s infrastructure drive, and prompted concern in the West about Beijing´s increasing influence.

Yameen´s government has jailed many of his main rivals, including former president and his half-brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, on charges ranging from terrorism to corruption.

More than a quarter of a million people were eligible to vote in around 400 polling booths across the coral islands. Yameen, 59, is seeking a second five-year term. Hundreds of people queued outside polling stations in the capital, Male, early on Sunday.

On some islands, people started queuing on Saturday night.“I am voting to revert a mistake I made in 2013. I am voting to free President Maumoon (Gayoom),” Nazima Hassan, 44, told Reuters after voting in Male.

Abdul Rasheed Husain, 46, in Male said he cast his ballot for Yameen to take the Maldives “to the next level”.