‘Whether an election is democratic or not is determined not just on election day’, says British Ambassador to the Maldives, James Dauris, highlighting that the period leading up to ballots is essential in determining if they will be free and fair. 

The Ambassador left the Maldives on Monday, after an official trip where he met with officials of both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as members of the civil society.

In a tweet posted prior to his departure, Dauris said that he had ‘heard about so many people's concerns that court rules and procedures are being ignored in the on-going trials of senior judges and political leaders’, adding that ‘citizens in every country need the courts to act as independent and impartial checks on power’.

Following his meeting with Foreign Secretary Ahmed Sareer earlier, the Ambassador tweeted that both parties ‘agreed that whether an election is democratic or not id determined not just on election day’.

“Freedom to choose candidates and hold meetings, equal access to funding, resources and TV time (etc) in preceding months matter too”, he added.

In a press release issued after, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Foreign Secretary and the Ambassador ‘discussed issues of bilateral cooperation and on important global issues of mutual interest, including counter terrorism, climate change and human trafficking’.

Dauris also met with officials of the opposition, who briefed him on the current political situation in the country.

The British Ambassador, as well as several other European High Commissioners based in Colombo, made an official trip to the Maldives shortly after the sudden declaration of a state of emergency in early February. However, the government refused to meet with them on that trip.