Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in the Maldives to protest against a supreme court decision to indefinitely postpone the second round of voting in the presidential elections.
The fast moving political battles in the Maldives are being watched nervously by regional powers, as well as the UK and US.
Observers are concerned about the protracted political instability in the strategically situated Sunni Muslim nation, which is facing a range of challenges, including a rise in religious conservatism, social problems and slowing economic growth.
The presidential vote was due to be held on Saturday. Now, following the injunction on Monday it is uncertain whether it will be held at all.
In the first round of the poll Mohamed Nasheed, a veteran human rights and climate change activist who was forced to resign as president 20 months ago in what supporters called a coup, suffered a 5% shortfall of the 50% tally he needed for victory.
In the second round Nasheed would face Abdulla Yameen, a half brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the Maldives for 30 years prior to elections in 2008.
Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, of the Progressive party of Maldives, who is a former home minister and is campaigning with Yameen, claimed that tens of thousands of votes cast for Nasheed in the first round were unlawful.
"A valid elections cannot be held amidst such major issues," he told the local Haveeru newspaper.
The supreme court said it needed time to consider its decision. The plea to annul the first round of voting came from a second defeated first-round candidate, Qasim Ibrahim, a local tycoon who was finance minister under the long-time ruler Gayoom.
The Maldivian election commission says there is no evidence of any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic party said the postponement was "in complete contravention of the constitution".
Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, the MDP's international spokesman, said: "This ruling is a cynical attempt by President Nasheed's political opponents to delay an election they feared they were likely to lose. It is a trigger happy situation."
The ruling came soon after there wasa vote in parliament calling for the election to go ahead as scheduled.
"It is flexing muscle … all local and international observers … approved the conduct of the first round of elections. They all said it was free and fair and without incident," Ghafoor said.
The Commonwealth secretary-general's special envoy to the Maldives, Sir Don McKinnon, has called on the supreme court to deliver its judgment rapidly.
"The people of Maldives worked hard to get a democratic constitution, they want it respected and it is their right that the elections deliver a result that reflects the wishes of the majority," McKinnon said.
The Maldives, which has a population of 350,000 spread over 200 islands, recently emerged from decades of dictatorship and faces many issues similar to those engaging much larger nations elsewhere in the Islamic world; it is being seen as a test case regionally.
The first round of voting passed off peacefully and there was a voter turnout of 88%, up from 85% in 2008.
The political chaos has tarnished the Maldives' image as a tranquil holiday paradise. Tourism accounts for more than a quarter of GDP, but growth has slowed drastically in recent years.
The religious identity of the mostly Sunni Muslim country has been a big issue in the election. Nasheed, who has vocally supported a moderate form of Muslim thought and practice, has been attacked by opponents as anti-Islamic.
Many of Nasheed's supporters expected a crushing first-round win leading to an immediate return to power. More protests are expected in the coming days, local observers said.
