Maldives president poised to claim referendum win

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MALE, Aug 19 (AFP): Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom appeared set for victory Sunday in a referendum on how the Indian Ocean atoll nation should be governed, a vote seen as a test of his nearly three decades in power.
An estimated 61 per cent of voters chose the US-style presidential system favoured by Gayoom over a British-style parliamentary government backed by opposition parties, election commission chief K.D. Ahmed Manik announced.
The vote in the mainly Sunni Muslim country followed years of simmering political unrest and calls for change in the former British protectorate run by Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving ruler, who took office in 1978.
Gayoom was expected to hold a rare press conference later Sunday, his spokesman Ibrahim Shafiu said, noting: "The president will declare his victory."
Manik said final results from Saturday's referendum in the tropical archipelago -- a popular destination for holidaymakers -- would not be available until Thursday because of a dispute over one ballot box.
Preliminary results showed Gayoom's Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) had won 93,042 votes, or 61 per cent of votes cast, in favour of a presidential system while the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 57,109, or 39 per cent, for a parliamentary government, he said.
Manik said 194,000 voters were eligible to cast ballots.
The referendum marked the first time Gayoom faced a direct democratic test of his authority. The president, decried by opponents as autocratic, promised voters a more open and transparent government under a new constitution.