Voting in the first multi-party legislative elections to be held in the Maldives ended Saturday night after high voter turnout, dpa cited officials as saying. Polling was conducted both in the country as well as in the capitals of other countries where large numbers of Maldivians live. Ali Hussein Didi, the head of the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said polling was conducted in a free and fair manner with no criminal incidents reported and voters showing keen interest in voting. Exact turnout numbers were not available. An estimated 214,400 voters were eligible to vote to elect 77 members to the Majlis, or parliament, while 440 candidates were vying for places. "This is a milestone in the history of our tiny country, and the entire electoral process was conducted in a very free and fair atmosphere", Ali said. The Bhivehi Rayyithunge Party (BRP) and the Maldivian Democratic Party were the lead runners in yesterday elections. Political parties in the Maldives were legalized in June 2005 after an unanimous vote in the Majlis, which allowed a multi-party system to contest presidential and parliamentary polls for the first time after nearly three decades of autocratic rule under former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. On October 28, Gayoom's rival, Mohamed Nasheed, the head of the Maldivian Democratic Party, won the first-ever democratic presidential elections. Ballot counting was to commence Saturday night, with results due on Sunday.
