Multi-party, multi-candidate elections were held on 9 October 2008, with 5 candidates running against Gayoom.

In an effort to make the system more accountable, the Government has introduced multi-candidate elections for most elected posts.

They were viewed as yet another test to the current wave of political reform, occurring only 2 months after the first multi-candidate presidential elections.

The first was a referendum on 25 May to approve changes to the constitution that would allow the first ever direct, multi-candidate elections for the presidency.

They demanded political change and a fair, multi-candidate election.

These included a limit of two five-year terms for a new and enhanced Soviet presidency, multi-candidate elections and diminished party authority over economic affairs.

On Oct. 27 the central committee proposed that multi-candidate elections with secret ballots be obligatory.

A constitutional amendment approved in a referendum in May 2005 opened the way for multi-candidate presidential elections.

This was the first time that the president had been selected in a multi-candidate election in the country's post-independence history.

But there are also some grounds for optimism, as we witness the first multi-candidate presidential election in Egypt today.