Opposition hopes for turnover in election runoff

Maumoon Abdul GayoomColombo  - An election run off is to take place in the Maldives, following the failure of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to win a decisive victory in the country's first multi-party presidential election on Wednesday, officials have said.

President Gayoom, who has ruled the Maldives for the past 30 years, gained around 40 per cent of the vote, followed by the leading opposition candidate Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivan Democratic Party (MDP).

A precise date for the runoff has yet to be decided.

Opposition parties called for the runoff on Thursday, after it emerged that no candidate had won a majority, hoping for an historic change in political power, a spokesman for the MDP told Deutsche Presse-Agentur in a telephone interview from the capital Male.

Incumbent Gayoom, 71, has ruled the mainly Muslim Maldives since 1978, and is the longest-ruling head of state or government in Asia. Critics say that he has developed a totalitarian rule.

The Maldives consists of some 1200 islands, with around 318,000 citizens. Major industries are tourism and fishing. (dpa)

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