Maldives leader wins referendum

Maldivians have decided on a US-style presidential system in a referendum to decide which democratic model the island chain should adopt.

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Maldives' president, and three other parties advocated a presidential system, while the main opposition party pushed for a British-style parliamentary government.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party had billed the vote as a referendum on Gayoom's 29-year autocratic rule.

Officials said the presidential model choice won 62 per cent of the vote, with 38 per cent against. They said just over 150,000 of a total electorate of 193,000 turned out to vote.

Leadership

Speaking at a news conference, Gayoom said: "This referendum was not about my leadership, it was about what form of government the people wanted to have in the future."

"But [with] this result, I am very much in position to say I am very happy with the endorsement, the massive endorsement that the people has given to our party position in the referendum."

He also rejected charges of vote-rigging from the opposition and called for cross-party unity.

Critics have said Gayoom is delaying the implementation of promised democratic reforms and say it is time he went.

Aides say he will run for office in the country's first multi-party election, due to take place next year.

Political parties were only legalised in the Maldives in 2005.

'Intimidation'

Gayoom's Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party's (DRP) and rival MDP accused each other of intimidating voters and breaking election rules.

Election officials said ballot papers were short at some stations, and ordered a recount of one ballot box.

Mariya Didi, an MDP spokeswoman, said: "It is an ill-gotten result ... Look at how they used state media, bribery, corruption, voter intimidation and threats to withhold jobs.

"It comes as no surprise. The MDP always said giving ballot boxes to election officials appointed by the president was like taking Dracula to the blood bank."

Gayoom's critics say he is stalling on implementing a raft of democratic reforms pledged in late 2004 to revamp the power structure in the face of harsh criticism of the government's rights record.

His opponents billed a vote for a parliamentary system as a vote for him to quit, saying revenues from 89 luxury island resorts are not benefiting the half of the population who live in poverty on about a dollar a day.

Dissent has also flared within the ranks of Gayoom's cabinet.

Two members quit earlier this month, accusing him of stalling on a new constitution and judicial independence.

Source: Al Jazeera

Maldives President wins landmark poll

MALE (Reuters) - Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom won a landmark referendum on Sunday to adopt a U.S.-style presidential system in the remote Indian Ocean island chain, in a vote seen as an acid test for Asia's longest serving ruler.

Gayoom had advocated a presidential system, while the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party pushed for a British-style parliamentary system in a vote it billed as referendum on his 29-year rule they describe as a dictatorship.

Officials said Gayoom and his Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party's (DRP) presidential model choice won 62 percent of the vote, with 38 percent against. Just over 150,000 of a total electorate of 193,000 turned out to vote in a land best known for luxury honeymoons and Hollywood star visitors such as Tom Cruise.

"This referendum was not about my leadership, it was about what form of government the people wanted to have in the future," Gayoom told a news conference.

"But (with) this result, I am very much in position to say I am very happy with the endorsement, the massive endorsement that the people has given to our party position in the referendum," he added, rejecting opposition charges of vote-rigging and calling for cross-party unity.

Critics say Gayoom, who aides say will run again in the first multi-party election due next year, is dragging his feet on pledged democratising reforms and say it is time he went.

Gayoom's DRP and its rival MDP accused each other of voter intimidation and breaking election rules. Election officials said ballot papers were short at some stations, and ordered a recount of one ballot box, but said overall the vote appeared to be fair.

"It is an ill-gotten result ... Look at how they used state media, bribery, corruption, voter intimidation and threats to withhold jobs," said MDP spokeswoman Mariya Didi.

"It comes as no surprise. The MDP always said giving ballot boxes to election officials appointed by the president was like taking Dracula to the blood bank."

RIGHTS RECORD

Gayoom's critics say he is stalling on implementing a raft of democratic reforms pledged in late 2004 to revamp the power structure in the face of harsh criticism of the government's rights record.

His opponents billed a vote for a parliamentary system as a vote for him to quit, saying revenues from 89 luxury island resorts -- some charging well over $1,000 a night for rooms on stilts over azure lagoons -- are not benefiting the half of the population who live in poverty on a dollar a day.

"The money is not distributed to the people. There are no rights for workers, we have a lot of problems," said 35-year resort worker Zara, who gave a nickname for fear of retribution for speaking out against Gayoom.

"We don't even have electricity on my native island."

Zara earns $200 a month working at a luxury resort island, and must rely on tips from customers to supplement his income.

"He is not a good president, he has been cheating the public. I wanted change," he added, traditional wooden ferries bobbing in the clear waters behind him that have made the cluster a top scuba destination.

Dissent has also flared within the ranks of Gayoom's cabinet, which under existing rules he handpicks and appoints.

Two leading members of his government quit earlier this month, accusing him of stalling on a new constitution and judicial independence in a country that only legalised the existence of political parties in 2005.

Source: Reuters

President declares victory in referendum, calls for national reconciliation

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom today afternoon declared victory in yesterday’s public referendum to decide on a style of government for Maldives after winning an overwhelming endorsement from the public for a presidential system which was supported by Gayoom and his ruling Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party.

At a press conference held at Nasandhura Palace Hotel, the President thanked all the Maldivian people who voted in yesterday’s referendum, and said that the people have now given the government “massive support” to go ahead with his Reform Agenda of June 2004.

The President also said that this clears the main hurdle in completing the amendment of the constitution and called on the People’s Special Majlis, the interim constitutional assembly, to carry out work speedily so that the constitution can be amended by November 30. [Read More]

Source: Haveeru Online

Maldives votes in referendum seen as test for leader

With ballot boxes whisked by motor launch to outlying coral islands, Maldivians voted on Saturday in a referendum to choose between a British-style parliament and a U.S.-style presidency -- seen as a litmus test for Asia's longest-serving ruler.

As polls opened at schools and the sports stadium in the island cluster capital of Male, many, like 45-year-old speed boat company manager Ibrahim Mohamed, hoped the vote would send a signal that it was time for President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to go after 29 years in power.

Gayoom's critics say he is stalling on implementing a raft of democratising reforms pledged in late 2004 to revamp the power structure in the nation of 300,000 mostly Sunni Muslims in response to criticism of his government's rights record.

"For me it is not a vote for a parliamentary or presidential system. It is a question of voting yes or no for the existing president, and I say no," said Mohamed. "I believe the reform process will only start after changing this government."

"The islands have prospered, but it has not been equal. We don't have proper hospital facilities. Some islanders are living in very poor conditions," he added. "It is time for him to go."

Gayoom proposes adopting a presidential system to replace what government officials themselves have described as an autocratic sultanate of old, while his main Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) opponents want a parliamentary system.

Whatever the result, Gayoom says he intends to run for another term in the island's first multi-party elections next year, to see his reforms through, and hopes to retire early by 2010.

But his opponents say a vote for a parliamentary system is a vote against him.

Pressure on Gayoom is mounting from within his own ranks.

Two leading figures of his own cabinet, which under the present system he handpicks and appoints, quit his government earlier this month, accusing him of stalling on a new constitution and independence of the judiciary.

Gayoom's critics accuse him of cracking down on dissenting views in the Indian Ocean archipelago to hold on to power and maintain control of tourism resorts, which rake in millions of tourist dollars each year.

CALLS FOR CHANGE

Many ordinary Maldivians feel cheated, and say the revenues from the island's 89 cash cow luxury island resorts, where accommodation in pavilions on stilts over azure lagoons can run to well over $1,000 a night, is not trickling down to the half the population who live in poverty on a dollar a day.

"The current regime has not given any opportunities to the young," said 31-year-old Ahmed Marzook, a former member of the Maldives national soccer team, as workers arrived by ferryboat in the crystalline waters that have given the island's a reputation as a one of the world's top scuba spots and a magnet for Hollywood jetsetters such as Tom Cruise.

"There's nowhere we can go for higher education. There's not one university."

Marzook said local businessmen had helped fund him to study at Solent University, in southern England, but at 7,900 pounds ($15,650) a year for tuition alone, the funds weren't enough and he was now back in the Maldives trying to raise more to finish his course.

The government on Saturday accused MDP supporters of attacking three elderly voters because they backed the president, and said the party had broken election rules by refusing to take down electioneering hoardings and posters.

Officials say they are pushing on with plans for reforms such as freedom of assembly -- the chain of 1,200 mostly uninhabited islands 500 miles (800 km) off the toe of India only legalised the existence of political parties in 2005.

"We need these reforms because socio-economic progress ... in recent years has increased expectations," said reformist Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed. "We also need to subscribe to international norms and values of human rights and democracy."

"Because we rely on tourism, we need to update our legal system to protect people's rights and investment."

Gayoom reserved comment on the referendum, saying he was bound by election campaign laws.

"My lips are sealed," the diminutive leader told Reuters after registering his own vote at a school in Male. "It is the right of every citizen to vote today, so I've come to do so too."

Initial results of the vote count are due out late on Saturday.

Source: Reuters

Voting begins in the Maldives

People in the Maldives are voting to decide whether their country follows the British democratic model or that of the US.

Voters lined up to cast their ballots in the referendum on Saturday, a poll which is seen also as a vote on the president, who has lead the country for 29 years.

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is Asia's longest-serving ruler.

Although the country, made up of 1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, has had a period of high economic growth, Gayoom has been accused of using torture and police crackdowns to stifle dissent.

Protesters, led by the Maldivian Democratic party (MDP), have demanded greater civil rights.

The election commission said polling stations opened at 7am (0200 GMT) and will stay open for 12 hours.

The 194,000 eligible voters are being asked whether to switch to a British-style parliamentary democracy or to elect a US-model presidency.

Mohamed Nasheed, leader of the Maldivian Democratic party, said: "It will be a turning point in the history of the Maldives."

"Whatever the people of the Indian Ocean country choose, it will be turning toward a people's government."

Changing direction

Nasheed says that the only way to inject democracy and good governance is to have a prime minister answerable to parliament.

The opposition is wary of giving too much power to another leader, or to Gayoom for another five-year term, and is therefore in support of a British-style parliament.

Gayoom is pushing for a US-style political system, with a powerful executive presidency.

The vote is the culmination of a reform initiative started by the president in 2004 amid street protests in the capital, Male, that threatened to bring down the government.

His other reform efforts over the past three years - legalising opposition parties and allowing them to print newspapers - have been followed by police crackdowns on public rallies and the arrests of dissidents.

Western support

Ahmed Shaheed, the foreign minister, said: "To my judgment, this is a very sincere effort by the president to bring the Maldives into the 21st century."

Western diplomats say that they believe Gayoom, who has won six elections but has never faced an opponent, did intend to move towards a multiparty democracy.

Robert Blake, the US ambassador, said: "By and large, things are going in a positive direction."

The Maldives is the wealthiest country in South Asia, with tourism accounting for one-third of the economy.

Half of the population is under 18-years old and reasonably well-educated, but unemployment remains high.

The country's highest point is only 2.4m above sea level and rising ocean levels threaten to inundate some islands.

The islands were devastated by the tsunami of 2004 and were battered again earlier this year by storms.

Source: Al Jazeera