Ousted Maldives leader primed to rule again Maldives votes after protest and violence The Maldives president who was forced out of office in 2012 hopes to return after unrest and violence that hurt the nation's tropical paradise image. PT0M58S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2tdb5 620 349 September 8, 2013 - 8:01AM Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, ousted from power 18 months ago, appears set to be returned to the leadership of the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago. Mr Nasheed, who in 2008 became the country's first democratically elected president after 30 years of dictatorship by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, suddenly quit the presidency in February last year. A day later he said he had been forced to resign at gunpoint by mutinying army and police forces. Roaring back: A woman walks past graffiti of former president Mohamed Nasheed in Male. On Saturday, in the first round of presidential polling, Mr Nasheed received 45 per cent of the vote to comfortably head the four-man field. But he fell short of an absolute majority, meaning he will face Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the former dictator's brother, in a run-off poll on September 28. Incumbent President Mohamed Waheed Hassan came last in the poll, attracting just 5 per cent of the vote. Known for its beaches and luxury resorts, the archipelago of 1190 islands is the lowest-lying country in the world: 80 per cent of its landmass is less than a metre above sea level. Climate change projections suggest the country will be uninhabitable by the end of the century - it is already "losing" an average of three islands a year to the ocean. During his presidency, Mr Nasheed told Fairfax Media that within two generations, the nearly 400,000-strong population of the Maldives might be looking for a new place to live. For us, it is difficult not to be worried about the climate ... time is running out, and it is getting very, very late. But there are other issues that will require the attention of whomever is elected president: a rising tide of puritan Islam that has resulted in women being flogged for extramarital sex, as well as high unemployment and drug use among youth in the capital Male. The elections have been largely free of violence. But the poll has not been without its oddities. Last week it was reported that police detained a coconut on suspicion of vote-rigging on the remote Kaafu atoll. The coconut was found near a school with a Koran verse written on it, warning islanders not to practise black magic to influence voting. The Maldives' constitution requires all citizens to follow Islam, but animist practices are still common on smaller islands.