DHAKA: Voters across the Maldives will go to the polls for a presidential election nearly 18 months after a violent change of leadership shook the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Saturday’s vote will test the popular holiday destination`s young democracy after the ousting of its first elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, in February last year.

Nasheed resigned after a mutiny by police which he claimed was a coup orchestrated by former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Nasheed, a British-educated scuba-diving fanatic who once held a cabinet meeting under water, is contesting again and is seen as the clear frontrunner among the four candidates.

The man who replaced him in power, Mohamed Waheed, is also standing, along with tourism tycoon Gasim Ibrahim and Abdulla Yameen, the half-brother of long time Maldivian autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

"The atmosphere is ready for free and fair elections," President Waheed told AFP news agency as the candidates wrapped up campaigning on Friday.

"I have given an assurance of my government`s full support for anyone who wins the election," he added, speaking from the capital of the nation of about 350,000 people.

If none of the candidates scores more than 50 percent on Saturday, a second round run-off is scheduled for September 28.

Paradise destination

Voting will take place at 470 polling stations on all inhabited islands as well as on the tourist resorts that have made the country famous as a "paradise" destination.

Nearly one million holidaymakers visited the Maldives last year, drawn to its secluded beaches on private coral-fringed islands.
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Anymore instability would spell problems for the industry, the lifeblood of the country, which suffered a wave of cancellations following the unrest last year.

Nasheed resigned from office on national television, which had been taken over by the security forces whom he said threatened him and his family with violence unless he stepped down.

Waheed, who was then vice-president, took the oath immediately afterwards, leading Nasheed to accuse him of taking part in a conspiracy with former dictator Gayoom who ruled for more than 30 years until 2008.

Waheed denies the charges, but the contested change in leadership blemished what was a flourishing democracy in South Asia and has left a legacy of bitterness and distrust.

"We are apprehensive that renegade elements within the police and military might intervene during voting or during counting," Nasheed told a press conference on Thursday.

If he fails to secure a majority in the first round, the 46-year-old is likely to see his three opponents join forces to try to defeat him in the run-off.

Waheed told Al Jazera that he was expecting a run-off.

"In that case I will work with other political parties. We had the same experience n 2008," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera
BDST:  0918 HRS, SEP 07, 2013
RS/BSK