Former Maldives president asks incumbent to resign amid mired polls

Former president and front runner to return to the job Mohammad Nasheed called on the incumbent Maldives president to resign or risk a constitutional crisis here on Sunday. Nasheed, who scored 46.93 percent of the vote in Saturday's first round election, was to have faced former President Abdul Gayoom's half-brother Abdulla Yameen in a second round runoff on Sunday. However, just hours ahead of voting the Supreme Court blocked the runoff and ordered it to be held on Nov. 16. According to the Maldives Constitution, a new president has to be sworn in on Nov. 11 but the Supreme Court on Sunday ordered that current President Waheed remain in power until a new president is elected. "If there is an election under President Waheed it would be unconstitutional and it will be difficult. We hope that he resigns tomorrow (Monday) and we are seeking for an election where the Speaker of Parliament will be appointed as the Head of State and he will oversee a transition of power," Nasheed told reporters. Waheed came into power after controversially ousting Nasheed from power in February 2012. The latter remains the first democratically elected president of the Maldives and insists his removal was a coup. Nasheed was also adamant that despite the Supreme Court order the Speaker of Parliament will attempt to "reach out" to other party members and form consensus for holding elections. He warned that if Waheed does not resign there could be the danger of parallel governments attempting to rule the Maldives. "The sad situation today is that there is no legitimate government. The Constitution is not alive. This is uncharted territory for us. This situation is not good for the people. The Speaker will reach out to other parties and we can have parallel governments if Waheed remains. We are confident that most people will support the Speaker," he added. Nasheed said he believes it will be impossible to have credible elections unless Waheed is removed from power. The second round runoff in back to back elections this weekend was thrown into doubt when former President Abdul Gayoom's half- brother and presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen said late on Saturday he would not participate in the runoff. Yameen, who grabbed 29.73 percent of the first round of voting on Saturday, told reporters that he has little confidence in the polling being fair. Yameen, who was to face Nasheed in a runoff, insisted that he needs at least 48 hours more to iron out issues in the all- important voters list. This is the third attempt being made to elect a new president in the country. Political wrangling over the electoral list has already derailed a previous election on Oct. 19 that was blocked by the police at the last minute because the list was not signed by Yameen and fellow candidate tycoon Gasim Ibrahim. Gasim, who came in third in the latest round of polls with just 23.34 percent, has agreed to back Yameen in the runoff, the latter noted. The first round of voting on Sept. 7 that saw Nasheed emerge as winner was also later annulled by the Supreme Court after Gasim alleged large scale vote rigging.