Maldives Prez Yameen looks to tighten grip

Colombo, September 21

Maldives strongman Abdulla Yameen seeks a second term as President on Sunday in a tourist paradise that has become a battleground for influence between regional giants India and China, and a source of global alarm over political oppression and a muzzling of the media.

With all his main rivals in prison or in exile, the odds appear stacked in the Beijing-friendly incumbent’s favour, and warnings 

of punitive action from the international community have been flowing in 

even before a single ballot has been cast. The EU has said it is ready to slap travel bans and asset freezes on individuals “if the situation does not improve”, while the US has warned it would “consider appropriate measures” against people undermining democracy and rule of law.

India, long influential in Maldives affairs — it sent troops and warships in 1988 to stop a coup attempt — has also expressed misgivings.

But with China bankrolling Yameen’s regime to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, his grip on the honeymoon archipelago of nearly 1,200 coral islands appears unlikely to loosen.

Battered by years of violent intimidation, spurious arrests and enforced exile, the Opposition has united behind a joint candidate — the little-known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

But voters would be hard-pressed to notice, with heavy-handed decrees and reporting restrictions stifling a media already fearful of doing anything to offend the President of the Muslim nation of 340,000 people. — AFP

Nasheed asks India to exert influence

Colombo: Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed on Friday asked India to exert its influence to ensure a free and fair election in the country as he fears that the September 23 presidential polls could be rigged. Nasheed, the country’s first freely elected President after 30 years of authoritarian rule, said: “Yameen will lose the election, but he will hold on to power”. Nasheed, 51, was forced to quit office in 2012.