Maldives’ President Mohamed Waheed today stepped down from office on the eve of the crucial run-off vote for the Presidential elections. Unconfirmed reports say that he has left the country for Singapore. It is also not clear as to whom he has handed over the charge of the country in his absence since the Vice President had already resigned from his post a week ago.

The term of the incumbent President had ended this Monday, but Waheed had continued in office with the sanction of the Supreme Court. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party had called for Waheed to step down and install the Speaker as the interim President for holding the second phase of the elections. On Wednesday, the Maldives was expelled from the Commonwealth by its Ministerial Action Group, which said it will investigate the political chaos after repeated court interventions to prevent the country's presidential elections.

The run-off between Mohamed Waheed and Abdulla Yameen of Progressive Party is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning.