Pro-US candidate wins Maldives presidential election
By
Rohantha De Silva
26 September 2018
Joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidential election in the Maldives on Sunday defeating President Abdulla Yameen. Solih’s victory is the outcome of a regime-change operation backed by the US and India in the strategically-located Indian Ocean archipelago.
Over recent months, the US, India and the European Union have intensified their hypocritical criticism of Yameen’s anti-democratic methods of rule and his pro-Beijing tilt. Determined that Yameen be ousted, they overtly and covertly supported the opposition.
Yameen acknowledged his defeat in a televised address to the nation on Monday, declaring, “[T]he Maldivian people have decided what they want. I have accepted the results.”
Although the final result will be announced in a week, the Electoral Commission declared on Monday that Solih had a majority winning 58 percent of the vote with Yameen receiving 47 percent from a turnout of nearly 90 percent.
Solih became the opposition alliance candidate because the Electoral Commission ruled that former President Mohamed Nasheed was ineligible to contest the election. The opposition front included Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the Jumhooree Party and the Adhaalath Party. Solih has been the MDP’s parliamentary leader since 2011.
Nasheed, who was previously jailed by the Yameen government on terrorism charges, is currently in exile in Sri Lanka. Under pressure from the US and Britain, Yameen allowed Nasheed to travel to London in early 2016 for “medical treatment.” Nasheed immediately stepped up his campaign to oust Yameen.
Addressing reporters in Male, the Maldives capital, Solih said: “The message is loud and clear. The people of…