National

Maldives holds historic referendum

THIRUVANAnTHAPURAM: A historic referendum to determine the system of government preferred by the people concluded in the Maldives on Saturday evening.

Voters were to choose whether they wanted presidential or parliamentary form of government.

The voting, which began at 7 a.m., closed at 7 p.m. But official sources said that the voting would have continued in some places beyond 7 p.m. if voters were in the queue. The results would be available by Sunday morning.

But for minor incidents and complaints, the polling was peaceful.

Chief government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said that about 70 per cent of the 1.93 lakh voters (aged above 18 years) was expected to have voted.

The referendum was held as part of the reform measures announced by the President M. A. Gayoom three years ago.

The referendum virtually turned into a vote on the Gayoom Government and the main Opposition party, the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), with MDP and Gayoom’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party taking opposing stands on the system of Government suitable for the island nation.

The vice president of the opposition Maldives Democratic Party, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, said that the there were lot of irregularities and bribery in the plebiscite. The party had filed 120 complaints with the election commission.

He told The Hindu over phone that after many years of dictatorship, the country was on a transition to democracy. However, as a dictator was the head of the State, there were doubts about how free and fair the referendum would be. Government denial

The Chief Government spokesman denied any irregularities with respect to the voting.

He said that the Maldives Democratic Party had breached campaign regulations and harassed and intimidated voters.

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