‘INDIA OUT’: MALDIVES’ OPPOSITION PROJECTED TO WIN HOTLY CONTESTED RUN-OFF

PPM/PNC coalition candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and his wife Sajidha Mohamed– Photo: Fayaz Moosa I Mihaaru

Sat 30 September 2023:

Maldives has elected a new president with the opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu in the lead with 54% of votes against the incumbent President Mohamed Solih in the second and final run-off for the presidential polls on Saturday.

The state broadcaster Public Service Media declared Mohamed Muizzu as the president-elect at around 8:45 pm local time.

Congratulations, President-Elect Dr. Mohamed Muiz! pic.twitter.com/4tdAP3NAVl

— Public Service Media (@psm_mkt) September 30, 2023

With nearly all ballot boxes counted, the candidate of the opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)-led coalition won 53 percent of the vote, while incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih obtained 46 percent.

Observers say the run-off could be key in determining the fate of the Indian Ocean tourist destination’s ties with China and India, as well as the future of its nascent democracy.

Muizzu’s PPM-led contested Saturday’s vote under the slogan “India Out”, criticising Solih for allowing what it called an outsized influence by New Delhi in Maldivian affairs.

The PPM, when it was last in government from 2013-2018, also brought the Maldives closer to China and also oversaw a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent, including the jailing of nearly all opposition leaders.

The Maldives’s president has conceded defeat in Saturday’s runoff vote in a post on X.

Solih offered congratulations to Muizzu and thanked all those who voted for him, including members of the MDP and its ally, the Adhaalath Party.

ރިޔާސީއިންތިޚާބު ކާމިޔާބުކުރެއްވި @MMuizzu އަށް މަރްޙަބާ ދަންނަވަން. އިންތިޚާބުގަ ރައްޔިތުން ދެއްކެވި ޑިމޮކްރެޓިކް ރީތި ނަމޫނާއަށްޓަކާ ޝުކުރު ދަންނަވަން. އެކުގަ މަސައްކަތްކުރި އެމް.ޑީ.ޕީ އާއި އޭ.ޕީ ގެ މެމްބަރުން އަދި އަޅުގަޑަށް ވޯޓުދެއްވި ހުރިހާރައްޔިތުންނަށް ޝުކުރު ދަންނަވަން

— Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (@ibusolih) September 30, 2023

The Maldives’s president-elect has delivered a brief statement at his party’s headquarters, thanking all those who voted for him and calling on the government to release former President Abdulla Yameen, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence on a corruption conviction.

“Today is a very happy day,” Muizzu told supporters.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the Maldivian people. This outcome today is a huge encouragement for us in our pursuit to build a better future for our country, and to ensure the sovereignty of our nation.”

Yameen, the leader of the PPM, must be released, Muizzu said.

“The president has the power to transfer [Yameen] home imprisonment. And doing so, I believe, is the best action that can be taken in our nation’s interests,” he added.

Who is Muizzu, the Maldives’s president-elect?

The MDP-led government of President Solih had been perceived to be exceptionally close to India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the inaugural ceremony for Solih after the 2018 presidential elections. It had marked the end of a rocky five years of bilateral ties under President Yameen when he allowed Chinese influence to spread in Maldives.

The PPM-PNC had launched an ‘India Out’ campaign a couple of years ago to demand the withdrawal of any Indian troops in Maldives. The presidential campaign also saw a high-voltage pitch to tar Solih administration as having allowed Indian troops to be stationed on the Indian Ocean island.

Born on June 15, 1978, Muizzu holds a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

The father of three entered politics in 2012, when he was appointed the minister of housing in a unity government formed after the toppling of the Maldives’s first democratically elected government following a police and military mutiny.

He continued to hold the post in President Abdulla Yameen’s cabinet, after the latter came to power in a disputed election in 2013. While in office, Muizzu oversaw several key infrastructure projects, including the construction of a first-of-its-kind bridge connecting the capital to its neighbouring islands.

When the 45-year-old won the contest for Male mayor in 2021, he was the first candidate of the PPM to hold the post. The seat had previously been held by the governing MDP.

China-India rivalry

The election outcome will have significant implications for the Maldives’ foreign policy, as well as China and India’s fight for influence in the strategically located archipelago.

Solih, who won the last election in 2018 amid widespread anger over corruption and human rights abuses under his predecessor, has brought the Maldives closer to India, obtaining more than $1bn in loans for housing and transport projects in the capital, Male.

The Maldives owes a similar amount to China.

Under Solih’s predecessor, Abdulla Yameen, Beijing funded a first-of-its-kind bridge connecting Male to its neighbouring islands, as well as upgrades to the Maldives’s main international airport.

The infrastructure projects have driven the Maldives’ debt to 113 percent of the country’s GDP at the end of 2022, with India and China estimated to hold 26 percent of GDP each.

N Sathiya Moorthy, a political commentator based in the Indian city of Chennai, said for both Beijing and New Delhi, Saturday’s election is “about the predictability of their Maldivian relations under the next presidency”. Solih is by now predictable for both, he said, but Muizzu – who is contesting the election after Yameen was jailed on a corruption conviction last year – spells uncertainty.

This is because Muizzu’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)-led coalition has launched a vitriolic “India Out” campaign seeking to reduce what it calls New Delhi’s outsized influence in the country’s affairs. “India has become the unnamed issue in this second round of polling with anti-India social media posts doing the rounds much more than in the first,” Moorthy said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent