Where Voting Matters: Maldives

In Maldives they just recently had an election for their president on the 23rd of September. The two most important candidates were the ruling president, Abdulla Yameen, and the opposition trying to kick him out of offices’ candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Maldives has only been an independent country since the 60’s, and it’s only really had democracy for a decade. Previously, Maldives had been under a strict dictatorship for thirty years from Maulmoon Abdoon Gayoom, until he was voted out. The reason why the election was so important though, was because it would determine whether or not democracy would continue in Maldives. The presiding President elected in 2013, Abdulla Yameen, has been on a track for destroying the Maldivian democracy. Since his election, Yameen has taken out tons of loans from the Chinese for infrastructure, making up over ¼ of Maldives’ deficit, which other diplomats find concerning, and they are worried that it would enable china to influence Maldives. Throughout the time he has been in office, Yameen has fought any checks and balances, and has been abusing his power. When judges refuse to convict leaders opposing him, Yameen declared a state of emergency, and had two judges arrested. He has also tampered with the recent elections. The opposing candidates were only allowed a single political rally, and there is almost no room for the opposition to campaign. There was also a sudden change in how votes were counted, making it so it would be difficult to detect rigging. Yameen is also suspected of trying to intimidate the only news channel that is aligned with the opposition by having them fined for defamation. Against the odds, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the election on the platform of upholding democracy and improving foreign relations with the west. His victory has been promised to be upheld.

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