US warns Yameen
The United States yesterday warned that action could be taken against outgoing Maldives president Abdulla Yameen if he seeks to overturn his election defeat.
The warning by a US State Department spokesman came on the eve of a Maldives Supreme Court hearing on a petition by Yameen to annul the result of a September 23 presidential election which he spectacularly lost.
"The US is concerned by troubling actions" by Yameen "that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people, and will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives," deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter.
The United States had previously warned of targeted sanctions if Yameen's administration attempted to rig the September vote won by opposition figure Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Yameen is due to hand over power on November 17 when his five-year term ends. He initially conceded defeat, but has since petitioned the Supreme Court to annul the result.
The court's decision to accept Yameen's petition has raised the prospect of fresh upheaval in the country's turbulent politics.
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