By Mohamed Junayd
MALE (Reuters) – Maldives’ ruling party is expected to win a two-thirds majority in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, local media reported, a result likely to push the Indian Ocean island nation further towards China and the away from its long-time ally, India.
President Mohamed MuizzuThe People’s National Congress (PNC) is expected to win at least 62 of the 93 parliamentary seats, according to local media, while the main opposition party, the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), is expected to win 15 seats.
Both Beijing and New Delhi have courted the Maldives as they vie for influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
President Muizzu, elected last year, has pledged to end the country’s “India first” policy, straining relations with New Delhi. His government has asked dozens of Indian military personnel to leave the country, a move that critics say could accelerate the Maldives’ transition to China.
Muizzu’s position as president is not affected by Sunday’s vote.
Before the vote, the PNC had asked voters to elect a majority that would allow the president to quickly fulfill his campaign promises.
Opposition parties, who have criticized Muizzu’s government in areas such as foreign policy and the economy, have sought to hold his government to account.
The PNC managed to capture key seats in former MDP strongholds, including the capital Male, the northern towns of Addu and Kulhudhuffushi.
The Democrats, founded by former President Mohamed Nasheed after splitting from the MDP in 2023, lost all of the seats the party sought while former President Abdulla Yameen’s new party also lost all of the seats that he was running, according to provisional results and media projections.
Voters had to choose 93 deputies from 368 candidates for the next five years. Voter turnout was 72.9%, the Maldives Election Commission said, lower than the 82% who voted in 2019.
(Reporting by Mohadmed Junayd; writing by Uditha Jayasinghe; editing by William Mallard and Christina Fincher)
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