Democracy in the Maldives will take a turn for the worst if September’s presidential elections are not held as scheduled, says central-Henveiru constituency MP Ali Azim.

The lawmaker said this during his interview with RaajjeTV on Monday night, adding that incumbent President Abdulla Yameen will face copious international pressure if the ballots are not held.

In addition to this, he said it is likely that democratic gains Maldives has made in the last decade, with the election of former president Mohamed Nasheed, will regress even further.

MP Azim also said that Maldives will continue to face international pressure until the government corrects its course and guarantees the independent functioning of state institutions.

Further, reflecting on the European Union’s framework for sanctions against human rights abusers in the Maldives, Azim said that it will most impact the citizens and not ‘big business owners’.

The lawmaker said in Monday’s interview that no ballots have been held in the Maldives, ‘on the date set’, since 2013.

While the 2013 presidential elections were subject to postponement, with the results of one ballot even being made void, the 2017 local council elections were also postponed several times.