Landslide win for pro-China leader’s party in Maldives election
- Voters backed President Mohamed Muizzu‘s tilt towards China and away from regional powerhouse and traditional benefactor India
- Muizzu’s PNC won 66 of first 86 seats declared, according to early results, already more than enough for a supermajority in the 93-member parliament
Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) secured more than two-thirds of the 93-member parliament, according to provisional results from the Elections Commission of Maldives.
Maldives signed military deal with China but may remain swing state
The PNC secured 66 out of 86 declared, already more than enough for a supermajority. The formal ratification of the results is expected to take a week and the new assembly is to be in office from early May.
Only three women candidates out of a total of 41 were elected, the local Mihaaru newspaper said, adding that the winners were from Muizzu’s PNC.
The PNC and its allies had only eight seats in the outgoing parliament, with the lack of a majority stymieing Muizzu after his presidential election victory in September.
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – which had previously had a supermajority of its own – was headed for a humiliating defeat with just a dozen seats.
Muizzu, 45, had been among the first to vote on Sunday, casting his ballot at a school in the capital Male – where he was previously mayor – and urging Maldivians to turn out in high numbers.
“All citizens should come out and exercise their right to vote as soon as possible,” he told reporters.
The Maldives, a low-lying nation of some 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800km (500 miles) across the equator, is one of the countries most vulnerable to sea level rises caused by global warming.
The Maldives is known as a top luxury holiday destination thanks to its pristine white beaches and secluded resorts.
But in recent years it has also become a geopolitical hotspot in the Indian Ocean, where global east-west shipping lanes pass the archipelago.
This month, as campaigning for the parliamentary elections was in full swing, Muizzu awarded high-profile infrastructure contracts to Chinese state-owned companies.
Since Muizzu came to power, lawmakers blocked three of his nominees to the cabinet and refused some of his spending proposals.
“Geopolitics is very much in the background as parties campaign for votes in Sunday’s election,” a senior Muizzu aide said ahead of the poll, asking not to be named.
“He came to power on a promise to send back Indian troops and he is working on it. The parliament has not been cooperating with him since he came to power.”
Solih was also among those voting early and expressed confidence his party would emerge victorious. There was no immediate reaction from his party to their poor showing in Sunday’s vote.
Election chief Fuad Thaufeeq said after polls closed that turnout had already reached 73 per cent of the 284,663 electorate when half an hour of voting remained.