It has been 10 years since the Maldivians shook off a
three-decade-long dictatorship and chose to walk down the path of
democracy.
In October 2008, long-term Maldivian leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom left power peacefully, after a popular opposition movement challenged his power and forced him to hold the Maldives' first multiparty presidential vote.
Over the past 10 years, the country has held regular multiparty elections and in just a few days, on September 23, 2018 Maldivians will head to the polls to choose their president for the third time since 2008.
The incumbent Abdulla Yameen is running against long-term legislator Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, endorsed by a coalition of opposition parties.
The vote, seen as a referendum on democracy, will decide whether the country's President Abdulla Yameen will win a second term.
Sunday's vote pits Yameen, who has presided over a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, against opposition figure and long-time Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
More than a quarter million people, out of a population of nearly 350,000, are eligible to vote in the island nation, which has been in turmoil since its first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, was forced out of office in 2012.
Yameen, who assumed power in 2013 after a disputed election, has jailed or forced into exile nearly all of his political rivals, banned protests, suspended parliament and declared two states of emergency in just five years.
Faced with widespread international criticism, he pulled the Maldives out of the Commonwealth in 2016 and fostered closer ties with China and Saudi Arabia who have funded the country's infrastructure boom.
Solih, the opposition candidate, has vowed to restore democracy and release jailed dissidents, who include Yameen's half-brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
There is currently little hope that the flawed electoral process and the vote on September 23 will change the current tendencies towards an authoritarian relapse in Maldivian politics
In October 2008, long-term Maldivian leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom left power peacefully, after a popular opposition movement challenged his power and forced him to hold the Maldives' first multiparty presidential vote.
Over the past 10 years, the country has held regular multiparty elections and in just a few days, on September 23, 2018 Maldivians will head to the polls to choose their president for the third time since 2008.
The incumbent Abdulla Yameen is running against long-term legislator Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, endorsed by a coalition of opposition parties.
The vote, seen as a referendum on democracy, will decide whether the country's President Abdulla Yameen will win a second term.
Sunday's vote pits Yameen, who has presided over a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, against opposition figure and long-time Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
More than a quarter million people, out of a population of nearly 350,000, are eligible to vote in the island nation, which has been in turmoil since its first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, was forced out of office in 2012.
Yameen, who assumed power in 2013 after a disputed election, has jailed or forced into exile nearly all of his political rivals, banned protests, suspended parliament and declared two states of emergency in just five years.
Faced with widespread international criticism, he pulled the Maldives out of the Commonwealth in 2016 and fostered closer ties with China and Saudi Arabia who have funded the country's infrastructure boom.
Solih, the opposition candidate, has vowed to restore democracy and release jailed dissidents, who include Yameen's half-brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
There is currently little hope that the flawed electoral process and the vote on September 23 will change the current tendencies towards an authoritarian relapse in Maldivian politics
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