Maldives goes for poll rerun, India keeps vigil

Maldives is slated for rerun of presidential polls on 19 October as earlier results were held in abeyance by the Supreme Court — that had seen Mohammed Nasheed’s party, MDP, cornering more than 45% of votes. A candidate requires to cross the 50 per cent mark for the poll process to be completed. The process itself has to be completed by 11 November.

Singh met leaders across the political spectrum, including President Mohamed Waheed and his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed. Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said, ‘As a long-standing friend of Maldives committed to strengthening the institutions of democracy in the country, India believes that it is of utmost importance that the electoral process is allowed to proceed unhindered.’