The Maldives Elections Commission has announced that the country’s presidential election will be held in September, as democratic freedoms decline in the archipelago state 10 years after the introduction of a multi-party system.
The commission announced on Thursday night that the election will be held September 23 and nominations will be allowed from July 15 to 25.
Yameen looking for an encore
President Abdulla Yameen, elected to office in 2013, is seeking a second five-year term virtually unopposed because all of his potential rivals are either jailed or in exile.
Maldives embraced a multi-party democracy 10 years ago after decades of autocratic rule.
Mohamed Nasheed, who won the country’s first free election in 2008, is seeking to become a candidate while in exile but faces legal hurdles because of a 13-year prison sentence. Given asylum by Britain when he went there for medical treatment on leave from prison, Mr. Nasheed has already started his campaign, addressing his supporters regularly through video conference.
Mr. Yameen is accused of curtailing democratic freedoms, including free speech and assembly. He has jailed one of his Vice-Presidents, two Defence Ministers, two Supreme Court Justices and scores of opposition politicians and officials while as President.