Britain has warned that additional delays in Maldives' presidential election could tarnish the country's reputation and harm its economy.
The minister of state at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire, said today that legal challenges to the electoral process appear to be aimed at preventing citizens from expressing their views at the ballot box.
The Maldives Supreme Court has annulled the results of a Sep 7 election, saying that the voter registry was flawed. It ordered a revote, which police then stopped.
Maldives relies heavily on tourism. The country has faced much political upheaval in the five years since it held its first multiparty election in 2008 after 30 years of autocratic rule.
