Elections in Maldives
By: V-Dem Staff
Nov 01, 2018
The recent presidential elections in the Maldives had a surprising result. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, an opposition leader, pulled out a victory overincumbent president Abdulla Yameen despite of governmental pressure and media restrictions. Yameen, who had jailed or forced into exile most of his political opponents, publicly conceded defeat. The result signals a turnover of power to the united democratic opposition and represents an opportunity to reverse the country’s autocratization.
This week’s graph examines he the extent to which the government can restrict the activity of political parties, the media and civil society organizations. The figure shows the impact of the lifting of a party ban by the government in 2005. Parties faced less constraints on their actions until the coup d’état in 2012 in which Yameen took power. This also led to more intensive repression of civil society as well.
If you want to learn more about the electoral democracy in the country or South Asian region, use our online analysis tools at v-dem.net.
