Maldives Tourism Having a Tough Time as Presidential Election Postponed

Male: Maldives a well known tourism destination having billion of tourism industry is under threat from the tenuous political situations as there is postponement of the presidential election.

The MEC Maldives Elections Commission on   late   Friday postponed the presidential election, creating a political turmoil in the Indian Ocean group of islands.  

The commission made the decision at the last hour having meeting to decide whether they could go with the election that is scheduled to be held Saturday, Xinhua reported. The MSC Maldives Supreme Court postponed the presidential election that aroused protest across the capital city of the Male. The date will be announced later, the commission added to the press notice. 

The committee said, it was the commission’s legal obligations to ensure peaceful elections, where the people can exercise their right to vote, without the fear, violence or unrest.

As the protest erupted across Male the capital of Maldives, tourism seems to take a turn as tourists are avoiding the capital male. Police and army  are ensuring that the tourists do not face any hassle with the protests. We have not seen any reduction in the tourism number this month, “Capital Travel Owner Mohammad Riffath told Xinhua, but said that the prolonged       strike would bring a serious damage to the tourism industry. 

With the call of the strike, two resort workers organizations had threatened to go on strike, if the presidential election did not take place as per the date announced.

The Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) had asked the entire employee associated with the tourism to go on strike, if the second round of the presidential election is delayed. Tourism industry accounts for 70% of country’s economy. 

In a statement, TEAM a  body representing the 5000 workers in the country’s luxury resorts- said the supreme court order issued Monday delaying in the second round of the run-off-vote” destroys the democracy we have embraced and voids articles of the constitution”.

While    with the turmoil of the political situation in the region, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said, that he would not let the tourism industry to suffer of the politics. 

Maldives mainly depends on tourism as 70% of the country’s economy is totally depended on tourism.  “ We cannot allow any political to involve the tourism with the politics. We cannot allow politicians to sacrifice the tourism industry and its workers every time for things that are associated with politics,” he told local media outlet Haveeru. 

Earlier this week, Mohamed Nasheed urged the resorts workers to go on strike in order to pressurise the Supreme Court in order to ensure presidential election to be held on September 28.