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WORLD NEWS Monday 24 SepteMber 2018

Maldives’ opposition presidential candidate claims victory

By BHARATHA MALLA- to file election petitions in
WARACHI court challenging the re-
Associated Press sult. The opposition had
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Op- feared the election would
position presidential can- be rigged in favor of strong-
didate Ibrahim Mohamed man President Yameen
Solih, a longtime but lit- Abdul Gayoom, whose
tle-known lawmaker, de- first term was marked by a
clared victory at his party’s crackdown on political ri-
campaign headquarters in vals, courts and the media.
the capital city Male in a In a victory speech, Solih
contentious election widely called the election results
seen as a referendum on “a moment of happiness,
the island nation’s young hope and history,” adding
democracy. that he did not think the
Supporters draped in the election process had been
Maldives’ flag took to the transparent.
streets, hugging one anoth- A police raid on Solih’s main
er, cheering and honking campaign office the night
horns to celebrate Solih’s before the election was
unexpected win. seen by the opposition as a
Solih had 58.3 percent of worrying sign that Yameen
the vote, with nearly 92 Maldivian youth display indelible ink on their fingers after casting their vote during presidential would “muzzle his way” to
percent of ballots counted election day in Male, Maldives, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. re-election, according to
just after midnight Monday, Associated Press Hamid Abdul Gafoor, an
according to independent tweeted that Solih had won and no one from the cam- Election Commission said opposition spokesman and
newspaper website mihaa- “by a decisive margin.” paign could be immediate- official results wouldn’t be former Maldives lawmaker
ru.com. Election watchdog Yameen’s campaign had ly reached for comment. announced for a week, the now based in Colombo, Sri
Transparency Maldives not conceded the race, A spokesman for Maldives’ period reserved for parties Lanka.q