The Hindu : Front Page : Gayoom ousted after 30-year reign in Maldives

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Gayoom ousted after 30-year reign in Maldives

Male (PTI): After a record 30 years as the undisputed ruler of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Wednesday lost power to a former political prisoner in the first-ever democratic presidential polls in the island nation.

Mohammed "Anni" Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had won 54.25 per cent of the votes cast in yesterday's presidential run-off as against 45.75 per cent by 71-year-old Gayoom, election officials said.

Conceding defeat to Nausheed, a prominent face of the pro-democracy protests in the country who has been in and out of jail, the long-time President said "I congratulate Anni".

"I thank the people of the Maldives for allowing me to serve them for 30 years," Gayoom, who has ruled the picturesque Indian Ocean archipelago since 1978, told Voice of Maldives radio station.

Nasheed indicated he was willing to bury the hatchet and that his priority was a smooth transition of power.

"I want a peaceful transition. I want my supporters to be calm," he told reporters as hundreds of opposition activists poured into streets to celebrate the victory.

Nasheed said Gayoom's political career did not end with this election and that he would like to promote pluralism in Maldivian society and not be "vindictive".

The 41-year-old opposition leader, a maritime engineer by profession, is expected to assume office in the second week of November after he is officially declared elected by the election commission.

The victory of Nasheed marks a watershed in the history of Maldives where a ban on opposition parties was effective till 2004. Gayoom had won the six previous presidential elections but never before faced an opponent.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page