Male: Mohamed Muizzu of the Progressive Congress Coalition has won the Maldives Presidential Elections 2023 and will be the new president of the tiny island.
Mohamed Muizzu - Mayor of Malé and former Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, was nominated by Progressive Congress Coalition of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) as a backup candidate.
Mohamed Muizzu defeated the incumbent president, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, in the second round of polling after no candidate emerged clear winner in the first round.
Presidential elections were held in the Maldives on Saturday September 9, 2023, with a second round held on September 30.
Counting of votes started on Saturday September 30 soon after the polling and the elections were announced late in the morning Sunday October 01, 2023.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was seeking re-election, after defeating Speaker of the People's Majlis Mohamed Nasheed in the Maldivian Democratic Party primaries.
He however was defeated by People's National Congress candidate and Malé mayor Mohamed Muizzu who won the election with 54% of the votes and became President-elect of the Maldives.
Dr Muizzu was named only as a fallback candidate closer to the nomination deadline after the Supreme Court prevented former president Abdullah Yameen from running as he is in jail in a money laundering and corruption case, according to Associated Press.
Yameen’s supporters say he’s been jailed for political reasons and now demands his release. Muizzu himself called for Yameen’s release in the victory speech.
“Today is a very happy day,” Muizzu an Engineer told his supporters. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the Maldivian people. This outcome today is a huge encouragement for us in our pursuit to build a better future for our country, and to ensure the sovereignty of our nation.” “Yameen, the leader of the PPM, must be released. The president has the power to transfer [Yameen] home imprisonment. And doing so, I believe, is the best action that can be taken in our nation’s interests,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.
“Today is a very happy day,” Muizzu an Engineer told his supporters.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the Maldivian people. This outcome today is a huge encouragement for us in our pursuit to build a better future for our country, and to ensure the sovereignty of our nation.”
“Yameen, the leader of the PPM, must be released. The president has the power to transfer [Yameen] home imprisonment. And doing so, I believe, is the best action that can be taken in our nation’s interests,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.
The Maldives Presidential election 2023 also turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power — India or China — will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. While the sitting President Ibrahim was considered pro-India, the President-elect Dr Muizzu is pro-China.
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