Democratic forces win in Maldives with election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

Male – President of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, known for his pro-Chinese stand, has conceded defeat in the presidential elections to opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. India has welcomed the development saying that Solih’s success in the general elections is a victory of the democratic forces. Also, the United States has welcomed the results and congratulated Solih. The result proves to be another major jolt to the Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean region.

Maldives, election, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Abdulla Yameen, Democratic forces, defeat, China, debt trap The Election Commission of Maldives has announced that Solih’s party had received the maximum number of votes. Although Solih was declared to have won the elections, the entire focus was on the ensuing reaction of the ruling President Abdulla Yameen, a leader who has a dictatorial disposition, and is supported by China. Riding on China’s support, Yameen had acquired power in the Maldives. A few months ago, he had even arrested a few judges for passing a judgement against him. However, as per the reports, the President has conceded his defeat after the elections.

President Yameen’s regime has borrowed exorbitantly from China for the development of infrastructural facilities in the Maldives. The debt trap was showing signs of tightening its noose very soon around the island nation and has become a cause for concern as some Maldivian ports and other locations face a risk of take over from China. The growing Chinese domination in the island nation, which is a strategically important state in the Indian Ocean region, was increasingly turning into a threat to India. Yameen had replaced the Maldives’s traditionally friendly relations with India, with pro-Chinese policies. Hence, its leaders were demanding Indian military intervention to relieve the country from Yameen’s dictatorial rule.

Nevertheless, China had threatened India that if it intervened in the Maldives, there would be serious repercussions. India too had denied any possibility of a military intervention in the Maldives. Against this backdrop, Solih’s victory once again takes the island nation in the direction of democracy, which would prove to be a major relief for India.

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