Maldives 2008

The first ever free and multiparty election was held in the Maldives on October 8 and 29. The election saw a true shocker in a dictatorship- the incumbent dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was defeated 54-46 in the runoff by 41-year democracy activist and MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed (also known as “Anni”).

The first round went off mostly without a hitch, despite a few voter rolls issue.

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (DRP, inc) 40.34
Mohamed Nasheed (MDP) 24.91
Hassan Saeed (Ind) 16.67
Qasim Ibrahim (Republican) 15.22
Umar Naseer (Islamic) 1.39
Ibrahim Ismail (Social Liberal) 0.77

All opposition candidates (or most, atleast, including runner-up Hassan Saeed) vouched for Nasheed in the runoff and united the opposition. Contrary to what most (including myself) would’ve thought, there was no vote rigging in the runoff (just registration issues). Nasheed won by a decisive margin defeating the dictator in place since ’78.

Mohamed Nasheed (MDP) 54.21%
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (DRP-inc) 45.79%

Results can be found here.

Back in 2009 for their legislative elections (with parties).