Male: Pro-China candidate Mohamed Muizzu won the presidential election in the Maldives, a result set to once again upend the archipelago's relationship with traditional benefactor India. Muizzu, 45, helms a party that presided over an influx of Chinese loans when it last held power in the atoll nation, better known for its luxury beach resorts and celebrity tourists.
He won 54.06 per cent of the vote in the run-off contest, prompting incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to concede defeat shortly before midnight.
"Congratulations to president-elect Muizzu," Solih wrote on X. I also congratulate the people who have shown a peaceful and democratic process." Solih, 61, will serve as caretaker president until his successor is inaugurated on November 17.
The result upends Solih's efforts to revert the country's diplomatic posture back towards New Delhi since taking office five years ago. Muizzu 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". Muizzu's mentor, former president Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India.