Voting in Maldivian parliamentary (Majlis) elections ended at 8.00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) Saturday evening amid allegations by opposition politicians of malpractice by state officials. Voting took place in around 300 polling stations in all inhabited islands of the country, where only 156,000 people, of a total population of 275,000, are eligible to vote. The polls had originally been scheduled for December 31 but were postponed following the Indian Ocean tsunami, which claimed the lives of 82 people on The Maldives. Voting commenced at 7.00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) and was conducted under the supervision of a special Commonwealth monitoring group from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), led by former president of Mauritius Cassam Uteem. "For the first time we have allowed the Commonwealth team to monitor the elections," said Mohamed Asim, the Maldivian High Commissioner. "They are free to visit any of the islands and observe how voting goes on." The Maldives operates under a unique political system that has in recent years come under increasing international scrutiny. No political parties exist, and yet there is no direct ban on a multi- party system. --More 2222 Local Time 1922 GMT
