Nasheed calls for fresh Maldives polls under parliamentary speaker

Maldives opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has called for fresh presidential polls under the supervision of the speaker of the parliament.

Nasheed said President Mohamed Waheed Hassan should resign and let the parliamentary speaker take charge of the government until the elections are over, the BBC reports.

Earlier, police had prevented the distribution of ballot papers, claiming that two candidates had failed to approve the registry of voters.

The Maldives has been facing political turmoil since former President Nasheed was ousted in 2012.

Mohamed Nasheed had won the first round of the election with 45 percent votes, against five percent won by President Mohamed Waheed in September.

However, the result was annulled by the Supreme Court and the second round of voting was postponed over reports of alleged irregularities, although international powers claimed the process had been free and fair.

Waheed had withdrawn from the elections after poll results were announced, and has proposed that the voting should be held again on 26 October.