ZCZC
BFF-59
MALDIVES-POLITICS-COURT-ELECTION
Maldives leader accepts defeat despite court challenge
COLOMBO, Oct 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Outgoing Maldives President Abdulla
Yameen told the nation Wednesday he accepted defeat in last month’s
elections, even as the strongman ruler lobbies the Supreme Court to call a
fresh poll.
In a televised address to the nation, Yameen made no reference to his
controversial legal bid to annul the results of the election he lost despite
stifling his opponents.
“This is my final address to the nation before I leave,” said the 59-year-
old whose term in office ends on November 17.
“During my tenure, the most difficult thing for me was my failure to learn
about the people. I just couldn’t find out what shapes their wishes.”
He said that he hoped to “serve the people” after leaving office, without
elaborating further.
Yameen had already conceded defeat, under pressure from abroad, after his
opponent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih emerged the winner in the September 23 poll.
But last week he filed a petition against the results in the Supreme
Court, defying threats of possible sanctions.
The court Tuesday refused to accept the testimony of three unnamed
witnesses put forward by Yameen’s lawyers, suggesting the bench was moving
closer to ruling against him.
Yameen successfully lobbied the same court in 2013 to nullify election
results as he trailed an opposition candidate, which ultimately allowed him
to narrowly win a run-off poll.
He has ruled with an iron-fist ever since, crushing dissent and jailing or
exiling all his major opponents.
Yameen alleges the country’s elections commission used disappearing ink on
ballot papers to unfairly favour the opposition.
His lawyers said the anonymous witnesses could show the vote was rigged.
The court’s rejection of the witnesses has all but cleared the final
obstacle before Solih, a relatively unknown opposition figure, takes the oath
of office on November 17.
Ahead of the court hearing in the capital Male, the United States had
warned “appropriate measures” would be taken if the will of the Maldivian
people was undermined.
Washington and its allies have been concerned by growing Chinese influence
in the strategically positioned Indian Ocean archipelago, especially under
Yameen’s authoritarian rule.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1850HRS