Multi-party system takes effect in Maldives

Maldives officials said that at least three political groups have come forward since the new multi-party system became operative Sunday following a landmark vote authorising new parties in the national parliament last week.

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has ruled the South Asian country since 1978, said the shift towards the party system was a "great achievement for the reform agenda".

Gayoom, as leader of the new Dhivehi Raiyithunge Party, or Maldivian People's Party, also applied for recognition under the new setup, spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said.

"Political parties are crucial to the effective functioning of a modern democracy and represent an indispensable mechanism for the people to exercise their rights," Gayoom was quoted as saying by Shareef.

The dissident Maldivian Democratic Party, which operates from neighbouring Sri Lanka, said it had started the process for official recognition.

"The (party) has now been able to complete the first stage of registering it as a political party," a spokesman in Colombo said, adding that they were yet to complete all the formalities.

Party leader Mohamed Nasheed, who had been living abroad in self-imposed exile, returned home in April to start political activities ahead of obtaining recognition for his group.

Gayoom, 67, said in January that he expected the political reform process to be completed through the newly elected parliament this year so that the country could begin 2006 with a new constitution.

"I think within one year's time we should be able to complete the constitutional reform process ... I am hoping that the Majlis (parliament) will be able to complete their work within one year," he said.

The nation's economy was badly hit following the December 26 tsunami that knocked out its tourism infrastructure. Most of the hotels are back in business, but the number of tourists visiting have fallen.