MDP international spokesperson and Henveiru-South MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor stressed on the importance of international intervention to restore a people’s rule in the country. “That does not mean that they [international community] will be meddling in our internal affairs,” Hamid said. “The democracy in this country is going backwards because of two political parties, a handful of police and military officers, an unreformed judiciary and an executive put in place through a coup.” According to Hamid, the people had now been forced to contest for their rights with the security forces. The indefinite postponement of the polls will be discussed during a sit-down of the MDP national council and parliamentary group later Saturday afternoon. MDP will decide on a course of action during those meetings, Hamid added. Police had said it stopped the elections commission from going ahead with fresh presidential polls as scheduled on Saturday in light of a perceived threat to national stability if the polls were held in violation of the Supreme Court guideline. During a press conference on Saturday, superintendent Abdulla Nawaz said the police was compelled to take the stand to stop the elections amidst fear of the country being thrown into turmoil if the polls had been held in violation of the highest court's verdict. "We had informed the elections commission that police will fully cooperate if the 16-point guideline issued by the Supreme Court is met. However, by this morning that hadn't come to pass. Because the guideline states that all presidential candidates must approve the voters' list. When that didn't happen we had informed the elections commission that police are unable to extend cooperation to hold the elections in violation of the Supreme Court order," he explained. However, the elections commission had accused police of undermining its independence. Elections chief Fuad Thaufeeg said the actions of police have obstructed the constitutional mandate of the commission to hold polls. “Whether or not polls is held or not is now at the hands of the police,” Fuad had said. The commission just hours earlier announced the vote would go ahead as planned despite 11th-hour court challenges by two candidates. Before the announcement was made, Jumhoory Party (JP) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had refused to accept the elections branding it 'unlawful.' The Supreme Court had annulled the first round of voting on September 7, citing irregularities even though international observers said the polls were free and fair, and ordered a re-run. Elections commission along with JP and PPM had asked the Supreme Court to make a decision over the stalemate on endorsing the voters' lists. However, the highest court in separate letters had asked the commission, JP and PPM to refer to its verdict which had annulled last month's presidential elections as it had outlined how to proceed with holding of the elections. Elections commission late Friday afternoon had turned to the Supreme Court for advise over the refusal by JP and PPM to sign the voters' list. Before that however, both JP and PPM had asked the highest court to issue on order to stop the commission from holding elections on Saturday if the voters' list is not signed by all candidates contesting in the polls. Elections commission had said the electoral register had been compiled in accordance with the guideline issued by the highest court for the fresh polls. However, apart from opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the remaining two parties JP and PPM refused to sign claiming that the lists need to be validated. In the 16-point guideline issued with the verdict, the highest court stated that in order for voting to commence in Maldives and abroad, the voter register must contain voter’s name, permanent address, and Identity Card number, and must be approved by the Elections Commission and the candidates or their representatives, and must be the final list containing their signatures and finger prints, and no other lists must be used. The elections commission had said the Supreme Court letter had given the green light for the elections. PPM had proposed to validate 10 percent of the forms submitted by people wishing to vote outside their permanent residence whilst JP had asked for five percent. Fuad had said that based on estimates from the police, the validation of information of the forms even with that percentage could take around 20 days. Former president Mohamed Nasheed's MDP accused the government of using the police to scuttle the vote. "The coup government through its police force has obstructed the EC from holding presidential elections in contravention of the SC (Supreme Court) ruling," said Nasheed’s spokesperson and parliamentarian Mariya Didi on Twitter. Nasheed, who says he was ousted in a coup involving rogue elements in the police last year, won 45.45 percent of the vote in September -- short of the 50 percent threshold needed for outright victory. The election was meant to end political tensions that followed the controversial downfall of Nasheed in February last year. Nasheed insisted Friday that the poll go ahead as planned, dismissing the challenge by JP candidate and business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim, who came third in last month's aborted poll, and Abdulla Yamin, who was a distant second. The United States and regional power India had called for the election to go ahead without further obstacles. Yamin, the half brother of the long-time ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, won 25.35 percent in September's poll and would have faced Nasheed in a run-off but the decision to order a re-run allowed third-placed candidate Gasim to re-enter the contest. There has been heavy international pressure to ensure the country chooses a new president by November 11 in line with its constitution. India dispatched Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh for talks with leaders Thursday to ensure the elections went ahead. Outgoing president Mohamed Waheed Hassan , who replaced Nasheed but is not running again, had promised a smooth transition of power. He was humiliated in the September 7 vote, winning just over five percent of ballots.