Expert UN review dismisses secret police report used to justify annulment of Sept 7 polls
08 Nov 2013, 1:47 PM
The UN has conducted an expert UN review of the secret police report alleging electoral irregularities in the first round of voting on September 7, which was the primary evidence used by a four judge Supreme Court majority to justify annulling the vote.
“We feel confident in asserting that the election was all inclusive, there was no disenfranchisement and the quality of the voter register met international standards,” read a statement today from UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, following his visit to the country.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed led the annulled vote with 45.45 percent, followed by the half brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Abdulla Yameen, with 25.35 percent. Resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim narrowly missed a place in the run-off with 24.07 percent, while incumbent President Mohamed Waheed just polled 5.13 percent.
The 4:3 verdict annulling the vote heavily cited a confidential police report submitted to the court claiming that as electoral register contained 5623 irregularities, such as 2830 “address mismatches”, and as such these votes were ineligible. The report was not released or shown to the Election Commission’s defence lawyers, although Minivan News eventually obtained a leaked copy.
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