Maldives Elections Commission being misused 'to ensure President Yameen a victory': HRW
Human Rights Watch expressed concern over plans to use tablet computer during the vote counting process
President Abdulla Yameen and First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim
Maldives Election Commission is being used "to ensure President [Abdulla] Yameen a victory" in next week's ballots, says the Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Following reports of plans to introduce a new vote-counting process, HRW's Asia associate director Patricia Gossman on Wednesday said that the new rules "threaten prospects for a free and fair election".
"If officials are manipulating the way votes are counted, it will deny the Maldivian people's right to choose their president," emphasized Gossman.
She said that Maldivian authorities "have detained critics, muzzled the media, and misused the Election Commission to obstruct opposition candidates to ensure President Yameen a victory on election day", adding that the country's incumbent president "has already jailed leading members of the opposition and issued draconian decrees to silence a free press".
Furthermore, Gossman urged foreign governments to "make clear that any attempt to rig elections would result in targeted sanctions against him and other senior officials".
"Concerned governments should press the Maldives to uphold the rights of its citizens to freely choose their government, and to peaceful expression and assembly. Should the Maldives government fail to do so, they should impose targeted sanctions, such as those proposed by the European Union, against senior ruling party officials implicated in abuses." – Human Rights Watch
Back in August, reports surfaced that the Elections Commission planned to use tablet computers during the vote counting process.
There have been concerns that such a change 'will make verification impossible' as observers will only see bundled papers instead of individual ballot papers.
Furthermore, according to documents leaked in September from elections training session shows that monitors are being trained to enter the data into a tablet and only to print and announce results after a confirmation from the Commission headquarters.
This contravenes Article 57 of the Maldives Elections Act, which stipulates that results must be announced and published physically at each polling place before being sent to the central election commission, and prohibits observers from filing complaints about the count until after the official results have been publicly announced.
Election officials denied changes to the vote counting process.
HRW's article also noted other concerns regarding the process, including requiring civil servants to re-register at their workplace under the supervision of ruling party appointees, blocking opposition leaders from contesting, restricted protests and arrests of peaceful protesters.
In a detailed report published back in August, the organization said that 'since the election of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in 2013, the Maldives government has increasingly violated the fundamental human rights of its citizens, particularly with regard to the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly'.
