Maldives candidate wants presidential runoff postponed

A candidate who has qualified for the presidential runoff in the Maldives is seeking to postpone the elections.

The first democratically elected president of the Maldives and the brother of the country's former autocratic ruler have qualified for a runoff in the presidential election.

But there are doubts that the runoff can be held as planned on Sunday.

According to Fox News, with only seven of the 475 ballot boxes from Saturday's first round to be counted, Mohamed Nasheed, who resigned as president last year, had 45 percent of the vote, while Yaamin Abdul Gayoom, the brother of 30-year-autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, trailed with 30 percent.

A runoff between the top two candidates is required if no one receives at least 50 percent of the vote.

Gayoom is seeking postponement of the runoff for at least 48 hours, saying he needs time to sort out alleged discrepancies in the voter register, the report added.