A Maldivian voter casts her ballot at a polling station on September 7, 2013.
The Supreme Court of the Maldives has annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections, ordering a fresh vote on October 20.
The Maldives suspended the run-off voting that was scheduled to take place on September 28 after the Supreme Court ordered authorities to postpone it.
The second round had been expected to help end the country™s political turmoil sparked after the ouster of President Mohamed Nasheed, who was toppled 20 months ago amid a mutiny by police. He came to power in 2008 in the Maldives™ first free elections.
Nasheed won the first round of September 7 election with 45.45 percent of the ballot; however he fell short of the 50 percent needed for absolute victory.
An official said on Monday that four of seven judges have approved the decision to suspend the vote results, while the other three said there were no legal bases for the move.
Judge Ahmed Abdulla Didi, who voted for annulling the elections, said a police report shows that some 5,623 ineligible voters have taken part in the election, including under-age voters, some who were dead.
This comes while the International election observers from the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the European Union and India had described the September 7 vote free and fair.
The court also set a run-off vote on November 3, if required, so that a new president can take office by the November 11 deadline.
Thousands of supporters of the Nasheed Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have welcomed the court™s announcement of the new vote.
“Do not worry. Now we have the election in our hands. We wanted an election date. Now we will not even have to go for a second round,” MDP legislator Mohamed Nazim said.
SAB/PR
Copyright: Press TV