Calls to annul election are deeply worrying: The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth has said that it is deeply worrying to hear the calls to annul the first round of the presidential election.

Commonwealth Secretary-General's Special Envoy, Sir Donald McKinnon, said in a statement today:

"The people of Maldives went to the polls in good faith on 7 September to elect a president. That election was found by national and international observers, notably by a high-level and experienced Commonwealth Observer Group, to be competitive and credible.

"It is therefore deeply worrying to hear comments calling for the annulment of that election. No election anywhere is going to be absolutely perfect and there was no evidence or claim before the election that the voter register was manifestly so deficient as to so distort the outcome.”

He repeated his earlier words and said that the Maldivian people must be the winners in this election, and stressed that the Maldivian people are collectively more important than any one political leader.

He called on the Supreme Court to deliver its judgement on the pending case expeditiously, and said that it is the right of the Maldivian people that the elections deliver a result that reflects the wishes of the majority.