Pro-China backed candidate Mohamed Muizzu, 45, has won the presidential election in the Maldives after a second-round run-off against incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Muizzu, leads a party that welcomed an influx of Chinese loans.
Incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih conceded defeat shortly before midnight after the Elections Commission of the Maldives said Muizzu had won 54.06 percent of the vote in the run-off contest.
Solih, 61, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Congratulations to president-elect Muizzu. Thank you for the beautiful democratic example shown by the people in the elections.” He will remain as caretaker president until his successor’s inauguration on Nov 17.
As per Maldives media, Muizzu, former housing minister, played a pivotal role in an earlier government’s development programme, bankrolled in part by financial largesse from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
He told a meeting with Chinese Communist Party officials last year that his party’s return to office would “script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries”. The party’s return to power might also mean freedom for former President Abdulla Yameen, Muizzu’s mentor.
