The Maldives Supreme Court on Thursday said that it would examine President Abdulla Yameen’s petition to annul his September election, defeat despite international pressure on the strongman leader to go quietly.
“The Supreme Court has decided to accept the constitutional dispute filed by President Yameen and it would be heard,” the court said on Twitter, raising the prospect of fresh upheaval in the country’s turbulent recent politics. It later said a hearing will be held on Sunday at 1.00 p.m. local time.
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, whose candidate won a landslide in the September 23 vote, said Mr. Yameen shouldrespect the results and drop his spurious challenge.
“The Joint Opposition calls on Yameen to immediately withdraw this blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful and smooth transition,” the MDP said in a statement.