Mohamed Muizou and his allies hold just eight seats in the outgoing parliament
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Maldives President Mohamed Muizou’s party won control of parliament by a landslide in Sunday’s election, results showed, with voters backing him toward China and away from regional power and traditional benefactor India.
Muizou’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won more than two-thirds of the seats in the 93-member parliament, according to provisional results from the Maldives Election Commission.
The PNC has secured 66 of the 86 seats announced, more than enough for an absolute majority. Formal ratification of the results is expected to take a week, with the new parliament due to take office in early May.
Local Mihaaru newspaper said only three female candidates were elected out of a total of 41 candidates, adding that the winner was from Muizzu’s PNC.
The vote is seen as a key test of Muizu’s plans to advance closer economic cooperation with China, which includes building thousands of apartments on disputed reclaimed land.
The People’s National Council and its allies hold just eight seats in the outgoing parliament, with Muizu floundering due to a lack of majority after winning September’s presidential election.
The main opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), which previously had an absolute majority, only won a dozen seats and faced a crushing defeat.
Muizou, 45, was one of the first to vote on Sunday at a school in the capital Male, where he was mayor, and urged Maldivians to turn out in droves.
Dr. President @MMuizzu Vote in the 2024 parliamentary elections. The voting process took place at the Presidential Constituency Polling Station at Thaajudheen School. pic.twitter.com/p4pHuXzx2R
— Office of the President (@presidencymv) April 21, 2024
“All citizens should come forward and exercise their right to vote as soon as possible,” he told reporters.
The Maldives, a low-lying country made up of about 1,192 small coral islands spread about 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the equator, is one of the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by global warming.
Former construction minister Muizu promised he would fight back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and the construction of taller islands, a policy that environmentalists say could even exacerbate flood risks.
The Maldives is known as a top luxury vacation destination for its pristine white beaches and secluded resorts.
But in recent years it has also become a geopolitical flashpoint in the Indian Ocean, with the world’s east-west shipping lanes passing through the archipelago.
Muizou won last September’s presidential election as a surrogate for pro-China former President Abdulla Yameen. Yameen was released last week after a court overturned his 11-year prison sentence for corruption.
Indian troops withdraw
This month, as campaigning for parliamentary elections got underway, Muizu awarded high-profile infrastructure contracts to Chinese state-owned companies.
His government is also sending home a garrison of 89 Indian soldiers who patrol the Maldives’ vast maritime border using surveillance planes gifted by New Delhi.
The outgoing parliament, dominated by the pro-India Democratic Party of Muizu’s predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, sought to undermine his efforts to restructure Maldives diplomacy.
Since Muizu came to power, lawmakers have blocked three of his cabinet nominees and rejected some of his spending proposals.
“Geopolitics is very much behind the scenes as parties compete for votes in Sunday’s election,” a senior Muizu aide told AFP ahead of the vote, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“He came to power with a promise to repatriate Indian troops and he is working hard to achieve that. Parliament has not cooperated with him since he came to power.”
Saleh was among those voting early and expressed confidence his party would emerge victorious. There was no immediate reaction from his party to their poor performance in Sunday’s vote.
Elections chief Fuad Thaufeeq said turnout among 284,663 voters had reached 73% after polls closed with half an hour left.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
