Maldives elections: Pro China Yameen ousted
Maldives, Sep 24: Ibrahim Mohammad Solih has declared victory in the Maldives presidential elections. The victory comes in the wake of allegations that the elections would be rigged in favour of President Abdulla Yameen.
"I
call
on
Yameen
to
respect
the
will
of
the
people
and
bring
about
a
peaceful,
smooth
transfer
of
power," Solih
said
on
television,
shortly
after
interim
results
from
the
country's
election
commission
gave
him
an
unassailable
58
per
cent
of
the
popular
vote.
He
further
urged
the
incumbent
to
immediately
release
scores
of
political
prisoners.
Yameen
who
was
tipped
to
retain
power
had
jailed
or
forced
into
exile
almost
all
of
his
main
rivals.
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Mohammad Nasheed, the head of Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party said that the vote would bring the country back to the democratic path. He also said that Yameen would have no option but to concede defeat. He will not have people around him who will support him to fight on and stay, Nasheed told AFP.
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Solih
had
the
backing
of
a
united
opposition
which
has
been
fighting
to
oust
Yameen.
He
however
struggled
for
visibility
with
the
local
media
fearful
of
reporting
restrictions.
The
poll
was
closely
watched
by
both
India
and
China,
who
are
jostling
to
influence
the
Indian
Ocean
nations.
Both
the
US
and
UN
had
threatened
sanctions
if
the
poll
was
an
unfair
one.
Before the election, there were warnings that Yameen could try to hold on to power at all costs. In February, he declared a state of emergency, suspended the constitution and ordered troops to storm the Supreme Court and arrest judges and other rivals to stave off impeachment.
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Yameen told supporters on the eve of the election he had overcome "huge obstacles" since controversially winning power in a contested run-off in 2013, but had handled the challenges "with resilience".