Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the presidential elections in the Republic of the Maldives on 8 October 2008
The European Union welcomes the holding of the first multi-candidate presidential election in the Maldives. The election, which took place after the August 2008 constitutional changes, represents an important milestone in the ongoing democratic reform process.
The EU congratulates the people of the Maldives for the generally peaceful and disciplined atmosphere in which polling was conducted on 8 October, and is impressed by their very evident democratic commitment to the election process.
The election was conducted by the very recently formed multi-party Election Commission under a new legal framework. It faced very serious time constraints in organising the process. And despite very laudable efforts in a restricted timeframe, this was reflected by some procedural shortcomings on election-day notably regarding the reliability of voter registers, complaints management and resulting correction and control measures.
The EU hopes that the issues arising during the first round, in particular reliability of voter registers, can be addressed in a timely manner prior to the anticipated second-round run-off election, the date for which has been announced for October 28th.
The EU reiterates its commitment to the people of the Maldives, and stands ready to continue providing technical advice and assistance to the election authorities in supporting the continuing democratic transition.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the
Stabilisation and Association Process.