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| Turnout | 85.38% (first round) 86.58% (second round) | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Second round results by atoll | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of the Maldives |
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Presidential elections were held in theMaldives on 8 and 23 October 2008, the first democratic elections in the country.[1] As no candidate won a majority in the first round, arunoff was held on 28 October between the two candidates among the contestants who received the most votes, incumbent presidentMaumoon Abdul Gayoom andMohamed Nasheed, who received the second most votes after Gayoom in the first round.[2][3] Nasheed was elected to the office after winning a majority in the runoff, unseating incumbent president Gayoom who held the office for six terms, lasting three decades.[4]
The election was initially planned to be held on 4 October,[5] but had to be delayed after theMajlis (national assembly) did not pass necessary reforms on time.[6]
The incumbent, President Gayoom, in power since 1978, ran for another five-year term. According to the newConstitution, which came into effect on 7 August 2008, Gayoom had served the maximum number of terms allowed (two). He argued that since the election was held under a new constitution, the previous terms did not count toward the limit.[7] TheSupreme Court agreed that the limited terms were to be served "under this Constitution" and that Gayoom was therefore eligible to run in the election.[8]
On 25 August 2008 theMaldives National Congress and theAdhaalath Party announced that they would supportJumhooree Party (Republican Party) candidateQasim Ibrahim.[9] On September 3, 2008, the six candidates participated in a televised debate.[10][11]
The Maldives has apresidential system of government where thepresident is both head of state and government. Once in office, they could be re-elected to a second 5-year term, which is the limit allowed by theConstitution.[12]
In the Maldives, the president is elected by a majority or more than fifty (50%) percent of the votes cast. When a candidate does not receive a majority of the votes, the election then proceeds to a runoff (or second round), which are mandated to be held no less than 21 days following the election. In a runoff round, the candidates among the two who receives fifty (50%) percent of the valid votes cast, are elected to the office of the president.[13]
The official results of the voting are announced by the Elections Commission and published in the government gazette within seven days of the voting day of the presidential elections.
There were 208,252 eligible voters in the first round, roughly 60% of the population.[14] There were a total 396polling stations throughout the country.[15] Additionally, registered Maldivians living inColombo,Thiruvananthapuram,Kuala Lumpur andSingapore were permitted to vote inMaldivian embassies and consulates.[14][15]
Voters went to the polls on 8 October starting at 09:00 and expecting to end at 20:00.[16] The elections were peaceful, though voting irregularities prevented some voters from voting.[17] Lines to polling stations were long on some islands, with waits sometimes exceeding six hours.[18] A number of citizens, especially of the oppositionMaldivian Democratic Party (MDP), were found to be not on the voter lists, even though they hadregistered, and some islands did not even receive voter lists.[19][20] Later, the election committee said that anyone could vote, as long as he or she showed an ID card that was valid.[18] A handful ofriot police were deployed after 300 protesters gathered around the central vote-counting location, Nasandhura Palace.[20]
Ahmed Shaheed, theindependent vice-presidential nominee said, "It's a disaster... I think there is deliberate tampering."[18] MDP chairwomanMariya Ahmed Didi, who incidentally registered but was not on a voter list, echoed similar concerns: "We hoped that once in our lifetime we could vote freely, but today we are being denied our right to vote."[19]
Election observers from theCommonwealth of Nations issued an interim report stating that the first round of the election was "reasonably credible" but that there were some problems with the voter list and training of officials and educating voters.[21]
In the second round, 209,294 people were eligible to vote.[22] There was a total of 403 polling stations across the Maldives.[22] Registered voters were also able to cast ballots at Maldivian embassies and diplomatic missions in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.[22]
Voting progressed fairly peacefully although there were some problems, such as people not being registered which prevented them from voting.[22]
Six candidates competed in the first multi party election ever held in the Maldives. Early results indicated that there would be a runoff between Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed and his running mate, Dr. Waheed;[23] on the morning of 9 October the results showed Gayoom ahead with 40.3% against Nasheed andDr. Waheed's 24.9%.[24] Those results stayed the same, and the four other candidates were eliminated, so a runoff between Gayoom and Nasheed was necessary.[25] Although Gayoom failed to win in the first round, as he had hoped, he expressed satisfaction with his score. According to Gayoom, the results showed that he was the Maldives' "most popular public figure", and he said that he was poised for victory in the second round.[26]
Following the first round results, it was announced that the second round would be held on 29 October, although election law provided for the second round to be held within 10 days of the first. Election Commissioner Mohamed Ibrahim said that this later date would give the candidates more time to campaign and would give the electoral commission more time "to correct issues with the voter registry".[26]
Third-place finisher Hassan Saeed, a former attorney-general, threw his support to Nasheed and Dr. Waheed for the second round.[25] Ibrahim Ismail also backed Nasheed and Dr. Waheed, and the other two candidates were expected to vouch for Nasheed as well.[27]
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | ||||
| Maumoon Abdul Gayoom | Ahmed Thasmeen Ali | Maldivian People's Party | 71,731 | 40.63 | 82,121 | 45.79 | |
| Mohamed Nasheed | Mohamed Waheed Hassan | Maldivian Democratic Party | 44,293 | 25.09 | 97,222 | 54.21 | |
| Hassan Saeed | Ahmed Shaheed | Independent | 29,633 | 16.78 | |||
| Qasim Ibrahim | Ahmed Ali Sawaad | Jumhooree Party | 27,056 | 15.32 | |||
| Umar Naseer | Ahmed Rizwy | Islamic Democratic Party | 2,472 | 1.40 | |||
| Ibrahim Ismail | Fathimath Nahid Shakir | Social Liberal Party | 1,382 | 0.78 | |||
| Total | 176,567 | 100.00 | 179,343 | 100.00 | |||
| Valid votes | 176,567 | 99.31 | 179,343 | 98.97 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,235 | 0.69 | 1,861 | 1.03 | |||
| Total votes | 177,802 | 100.00 | 181,204 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 208,252 | 85.38 | 209,294 | 86.58 | |||
| Source:Election Commission | |||||||
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