Dr. Waheed to Epstein: India influenced the 2013 presidential election and assisted President Nasheed in "stealing" the first round of the polls
It has been revealed that then-President Dr. Mohamed Waheed sent an email to Jeffrey Epstein disclosing that the presidential election results had been challenged in the Supreme Court, while also sharing a confidential Foreign Ministry report with him. This correspondence occurred during a period of significant political turmoil when the Supreme Court annulled the first round of the elections and intervened to repeatedly reschedule the voting dates.
Dr. Mohamed Waheed (R) and Jeffrey Epstein (L) | RaajjeMV Graphics | Raajjemv graphics
Former President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik alleged in an email to Jeffrey Epstein that India influenced the 2013 presidential election and assisted President Mohamed Nasheed in "stealing" the first round of the polls, it has been revealed.
In an email included in the Jeffrey Epstein documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Waheed stated that the election proceedings proved to be far more challenging than initially anticipated.
In an email sent on October 1, 2013, Dr. Waheed alleged that India had assisted in rigging the results of the first round of the election to secure a victory for Nasheed, noting that "this matter has now been submitted to the Supreme Court." He further stated that the court was expected to reach a decision within the next 48 hours and that new election dates would likely be determined within the week.
"I have enclosed a summary report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding this matter. Please refer to the attachment for further details," Dr. Waheed wrote.
The first round of the 2013 presidential election, widely regarded as the most judicially influenced election in Maldivian history, was held on September 7th. As no candidate secured an absolute majority, a runoff between the two frontrunners was scheduled for September 28th. The two leading candidates were former President Mohamed Nasheed and Abdulla Yameen. The incumbent president at the time, Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan, was eliminated in the first round after receiving a minimal share of the vote.
However, on September 27, the Supreme Court halted the second round of voting and annulled the results of the first round. When the first round was re-run on November 9, the outcome remained largely consistent with the previous vote. Although the second round was initially scheduled for the following day to ensure a new president was elected before the November 11 constitutional deadline, the Supreme Court postponed the vote to November 16. This delay followed a legal challenge by Abdulla Yameen, who argued that more time was needed for campaigning. Abdulla Yameen ultimately won the second round by increasing his share of the vote from 30 percent in the first round to 51 percent, while Mohamed Nasheed saw an increase of only 2 percent.
