Opposition groups claim Abdulla Yameen, who was defeated in the poll, was ‘preparing to annul’ the vote

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Maldives police and army have said they will act to guarantee the result of Sunday’s presidential election is honoured, amid reports the country’s ousted leader Abdulla Yameen is preparing a last-minute legal challenge to the vote.

The acting chief of the Maldives police, Abdulla Nawaz, tweeted on Wednesday evening the decision “made by the beloved people of the Maldives on 23 September 2018 will be respected and upheld by police”. A similar statement was issued by captain Ibrahim Azim, an information officer in the Maldives National Defence Force.

The assurances by the country’s security forces came after public warnings by opposition groups that Yameen, who was defeated in Sunday’s poll by 17 points, was preparing a legal bid to challenge the result.

“He is attempting to annul this election,” said Ahmed Maloof, a spokesman for the opposition coalition. “He is attempting to take a case to the supreme court, and the ruling party sent a letter to the election commission that they want to delay the official election result.”

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The election commission has declared opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih the winner of the poll but has seven days to formally register the result.

Ahmed Shareef, the chair of the election commission and a close associate of Yameen, confirmed to Maldivian media that Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives “had raised some concerns and asked the commission to delay the announcement of the official results”.

“The commission has not been briefed on the nature of the complaints yet, but there are allegations of fraud from what I understand,” Shareef told the Maldives Independent.

Ibrahim Shihab, a spokesman for the president’s office, told the Guardian that Yameen had “conceded the other day” but declined to rule out he was considering a legal challenge to the public’s decision.

The British high commissioner to the islands, James Dauris, tweeted on Wednesday that Maldivians were “looking forward to [the election commission] formally confirming the results of Sunday’s presidential election, so that the process of organising an orderly transfer of power can begin”.

James Dauris (@JamesDauris) We know from conversations with lots of people in #Maldives this week how much everyone is looking forward to @ElectionsMv formally confirming the results of Sunday's presidential election, so that the process of organising an orderly transfer of power to @ibusolih can begin. https://t.co/dt6x4s4m0M

The Maldives appeared to have turned the page on the Yameen era after he conceded defeat on Monday. Political prisoners were released, exiled leaders said they planned to return and media outlets that closed during his rule said they would re-open.

Yameen, 59, had been accused of crushing dissent in the Indian ocean archipelago during a five-year term marred by the arrest of scores of activists, opposition leaders being charged with trumped up terrorism offences and sharp restrictions on free expression.

Opposition groups celebrated his emphatic defeat on Monday after Yameen accepted the election result and said he would soon leave office. But many were also apprehensive, unwilling to believe a leader who had jailed most of his political rivals and top judges would go so willingly.