Polls have closed in the Maldives in presidential elections viewed as a referendum on the nascent democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago. The UK ambassador to the Maldives, James Dauris, said the raid on the candidate’s headquarters fuelled concerns about the legitimacy of Sunday’s polls. The Maldivian people deserve a peaceful election free from manipulation and interference. Opposition groups raised concerns last week about last-minute changes to counting procedure, which they said would make it harder to detect vote-rigging. Among them were members of the the Asian Network for Free Elections, which said in a statement on Saturday the apparent denial of visas was the “latest sign of polling misconduct”.

Source: The Guardian September 23, 2018 14:26 UTC