Opposition unity defeats a powerful President in the Maldives

Maldives Opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih claimed victory in a tense Maldives' presidential election, defeating autocratic President Abdulla Yameen following a campaign observers said was rigged in the strongman's favour.

With the votes still being counted, local news websites reported that Solih won 58 percent of the vote with about 97% of ballots counted. Transparency Maldives, an election watchdog, said he had won “by a decisive margin.”

As Solih declared victory and his supporters danced in the street, observers are waiting to see what Yameen would do next.

His campaign had yet to concede by early Monday morning, and a spokesman for the Maldives’ Election Commission said official results would not be announced for a week, according to Reuters.

Earlier in the night Solih had called on Yameen to concede defeat once the tally showed he had an unassailable lead. "I call on Yameen to respect the will of the people and bring about a peaceful, smooth transfer of power," he said on television.

Solih had the backing of a united opposition trying to oust Yameen but struggled for visibility with the electorate, with local media fearful of falling afoul of heavy-handed decrees and reporting restrictions.

There were also no other candidates at Sunday's election held with all key dissidents either in jail or exile.

Even before the elections on Sunday, Yameen had been accused of rigging them, forcing employees of state-owned companies to vote for his party, stacking the election commission with loyalists, locking up opposition leaders and canceling voter registrations.

On Saturday night, the police raided the opposition’s office in the capital, Malé, citing evidence of vote-buying. This month, the police said they had unraveled a plot to “create the false impression that the election will not be free and fair,” which Western diplomats warned could be used to annul the elections if the governing party does not win.

The poll is being closely watched by India and China, who are jostling to influence Indian Ocean nations. The European Union and United States, meanwhile, have threatened sanctions if the vote is not free and fair.

Many voters across the Indian Ocean archipelago said they stood in line for over five hours to cast their ballots, while expatriate Maldivians voted in neighbouring Sri Lanka and India.

The Elections Commission said balloting was extended by three hours until 7 pm (1400 GMT) because of technical glitches suffered by tablet computers containing electoral rolls, with officials using manual systems to verify voters' identities.

An election official said the deadline was also extended due to a heavy voter turnout, which was later declared at 88% .

Yameen voted minutes after the polling booths opened in the capital Male, where opposition campaign efforts had been frustrated by a media crackdown and police harassment.