Male: A former political prisoner won the Maldives' first democratic presidential election, defeating longtime ruler President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and sending euphoric opposition supporters pouring into the streets Wednesday in celebration.
With all the votes counted from Tuesday's election, opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed won 54 per cent of the vote to Gayoom's 46 per cent, according to final provisional results from the elections commission.
The result appeared to end the 30-year-reign of Asia's longest-serving ruler, who won six previous elections but never before faced an opponent. A final official count will be released later this week, but Ali Faiz, one of five election commissioners, said Nasheed's victory was unquestionable.
"We have embraced democracy for the sake of the next generation and the people of the Maldives," said acting opposition party head Ibrahim Hussein Zaki. "Gayom will accept this. He has ruled for 30 years. It should be a very short and harmonious transfer of power."
There was "no reason to believe" Gayoom woulg not peacefully relinquish his post, he said.
Nasheed was expected to be sworn on Nov. 11, 30 years to the day that Gayoom took office in 1978.
"It was a very close race and the (opposition) alliance won," said outgoing Environment Minister Abdullah Mausoom. The country's first "multiparty elections have been held freely and fairly," he said. Gayoom was expected to address the nation on live television later, officials said.
Gayoom began a democratic reform program on this Indian Ocean archipelago in 2004 under strong international pressure and growing street protests, lifting the ban on opposition parties, supporting a new constitution and committing to holding the nation's first multiparty presidential election.
The election was viewed as a referendum on Gayoom, who is hailed by supporters for bringing development and tourism dollars to this tiny nation of 370,000, but is criticized by opponents who brand him a despot who violently suppressed opposition.
Nearly 87 per cent of the nation's 209,000 registered voters cast ballots in the historic election.
As results of the run-off election were announced, hundreds of opposition supporters gathered on the streets of the capital, Male to dance, hug and cheer for Nasheed, who was reportedly in talks with the 71-year-old Gayoom.
Nasheed, head of the Maldivian Democratic Party, is a charismatic democracy activist who had been jailed by Gayoom's regime. He promised to push through deeper democratic reforms for the nation.
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Polling went more smoothly in the run-off than during a chaotic first round earlier this month when six candidates were on the ballot. But hundreds of people still complained they had not made it onto registration lists while the names of some dead relatives had.
As the polls closed, Elections Commissioner Mohamed Ibrahim said just over 1,000 complaints had been received and were being processed. Anyone waiting in line was permitted to cast a vote.
Nobody won a majority in the October 8 poll, forcing a runoff. Nasheed, who trailed Gayoom by 16 per centage points in the first round, quickly got endorsements from the losing candidates, who united to oust the longtime ruler.
"We want a change. It makes a big difference to be able to choose and decide," said Ibrahim Shameem, a 47-year-old civil servant as he voted Tuesday. "Before, even though we voted, we didn't know if our vote was counted."
Since Gayoom came to power in 1978, the Maldives has been transformed from a fishing community without roads to a regional tourism hub attracting billions in foreign capital that his supporters say has improved the standard of living for many.
Campaigning was dominated by weeks of character attacks played out in the media, with little attention to serious challenges such as the impact of the global financial crisis on tourism, rising sea levels caused by climate change and a ballooning heroin problem.
Gayoom's allies accused Nasheed of seeking to spread Christianity in the increasingly conservative Muslim country, while the opposition accused the president of being a dictator who abused human rights.
Nasheed is a Sunni Muslim like the president and denies any secret Christian agenda. Gayoom counters that he has not silenced opponents by throwing them in prison.
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