Maldives’ judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman President Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering U.S. sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil.
Mr. Yameen lost heavily in the September 23 election to a little-known united Opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite his main rivals being in jail or in exile and the media in his pocket.
Under pressure from the U.S., Europe and India, which is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically positioned 1,200-island, Mr. Yameen quickly conceded defeat and said he would leave office on November 17.
But even as Western countries breathed a sigh of relief, prisoners were released and Opposition figures began returning from exile, Mr. Yameen last week filed a request for the Supreme Court to annul the result and call fresh elections.
The Supreme Court in the capital Male adjourned on Sunday after proceedings that lasted several hours, and will resume on Monday.
The U.S. — which like the EU threatened sanctions if the elections were not free and fair — on Saturday warned that it would react if Mr. Yameen, 59, does not go quietly.
“The U.S. is concerned by troubling actions by outgoing President Yameen that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter.
He added that Washington “will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives”.
Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, said the legal challenge was an attempt by Mr. Yameen to create turmoil.
