Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Maldives says its Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming days on a petition that has held up a second round of voting in its contentious presidential election.
Acting foreign minister, Mariyam Shakeela, told the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday that the integrity of the second round can't be maintained without ensuring the first round was fair.
Shakeela said the election process can continue after the court's verdict, allowing a new president to be sworn in Nov. 11.
The U.N. and Western nations had all praised the conduct of the first round.
The front-runner in that vote accused the court of colluding with Maldives' former autocratic ruler to deny him victory.
Maldives held its first multi-party election in 2008 but has faced political turmoil in the past year.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
