(Reuters) – The European Union and some Western nations on Friday urged the Maldives to hold a credible and transparent presidential poll, after police executing a court order disrupted an opposition effort to pick a candidate for the September election.
The Maldives foreign ministry, however, said in a statement that actions taken by the government to stop illegal activities and to maintain law and order should not be seen as aimed at curtailing fundamental freedoms.
The Maldives, home to 400,000 people and best known as a tropical paradise for tourists, has experienced political unrest since Mohamed Nasheed, its first democratically-elected leader, was forced to quit amid a mutiny by police in 2012.
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