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Opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz was projected to win the Maldives presidential runoff on Saturday, according to local media tallies.
He secured more than 54% of the vote, beating incumbent Ibrahim Solih, who had 46% after almost all the ballots were counted.
Solih, prioritized building relations with India during his time in office in sharp contrast to the coalition supporting Muizzu that launched an “India out” campaign.
An Elections Commission official said they were confident of declaring a provisional result later Saturday or early Sunday.
Who is Mohamed Muiz?
An engineer, Muiz had served as the housing minister for seven years. He was mayor of Male, the capital, when he was chosen to run for president. Muiz’s party, the People’s National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China.
He also promised to remove Indian troops from the Maldives and rebalance the country’s trade, which he said favored India.
His mentor, former President Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India. Muiz has vowed if elected to free Yameen, currently serving an 11-year sentence for corruption.
Solih was elected in 2018 on a wave of discontent with Yameen’s increasingly autocratic rule, accusing him of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap.
The Maldives is strategically vital in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the busiest east-west shipping lanes in the world.
dh/lo (AP, AFP, Reuters)
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