Male, Sep 4

Incumbent Maldives President Mohamed Waheed Hassan said Wednesday that he would be concentrating on reducing the budget deficit and creating jobs, hoping his one-and-half-year tenure will drum up extra support.

"We need to provide value addition to our fishing industry and create new sectors. I have already started this and we are focusing on financial and bunkering facilities as new areas of expansion," Xinhua quoted him as saying while addressing supporters. 

Waheed added his government has been trying to curb the budget deficit and that he has managed to bring it down from 14 percent to 5 percent.

President Waheed, who controversially took over from former president Mohamed Nasheed, is contesting as an Independent candidate after his party was disqualified as it did not have the mandatory 10,000 registered members.

At the start of the year, Waheed was seen as a serious contender, but his support base slimmed down considerably after religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) left him to back tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.

With the third largest party in the country Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) behind him, Waheed will be banking on fresh voters inspired by his 18 months at the top post.

"We believe we have a very good chance," a campaign official, who did not want to be named, said. "People think if Waheed is given more time, he could make the economy more stable."

By:IANS

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