Gayoom defeated in Maldivian Presidential election [October 29 2008]

Election officials say opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has won the Maldives' first democratic presidential election, ending the 30-year regime of President Abdul Gayoom – the longest serving President in the world.

The nation's elections commission said today that Nasheed won 54 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday's election. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom won 46 percent of the votes. Turnout among the nation's 209,000 registered voters was nearly 87 percent.

Meanwhile, hundred of supporters of the Maldives' opposition danced in the capital's streets today as preliminary election results gave their presidential candidate a solid lead over the 30-year ruler of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed was ahead of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom following Tuesday's voting in the tiny Muslim nation, according to a count read on national radio by Elections Commission officials. With 174,250 votes tallied, opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed had 94,054, about 54 percent, to Gayoom's 80,196, about 46 percent. There was no immediate word on how many of the 209,000 registered voters had cast ballots.

Final, official results were expected later in the day, but hundreds of opposition supporters gathered on the streets of Male to dance, hug and cheer for Nasheed, who was reportedly in talks with Gayoom. Gayoom, 71, had been seeking a seventh term in a run-off against Maldivian Democratic Party leader Nasheed, a former political prisoner who has promised deeper democratic reforms for one of Asia's top luxury tourism destinations.