Pro-China party reportedly wins big in the Maldives, likely accelerating its shift away from India

Maldives
President
Mohamed
Muizzu’s
ruling
pro-China
party
cemented
its
grip
on
power
in
a
landslide
election
victory,
according
to
preliminary
results
reported
by
local
media.

The
outcome
is
widely
expected
to
accelerate
the
Indian
Ocean
archipelago’s
shift
toward
China
and
away
from
its

traditional
ally
of
India.

Muizzu’s
People’s
National
Congress
won
65
out
of
93
parliamentary
seats
in
Sunday’s
vote,
Reuters

reported,
citing
media
projections
and
preliminary
results
from
the
Maldives
Elections
Commission.

Official
results
are
expected
later
on
Monday.

Support
for
the
pro-India
main
opposition
Maldivian Democratic
Party
fell
to
12
seats,
local
media

reported,
a
sharp
fall
from
the
65
it
won
five
years
earlier.

The
MDP,
which
won
enough
votes
in
2019
to
secure
the
country’s
first
parliamentary
supermajority,
had
sought
to
disrupt
efforts
to
realign
the
country’s
diplomacy.

The
outcome
of
Sunday’s
parliamentary
elections
was
closely
monitored
by
both
China
and
India,
with
the
two
Asian
economic
giants
competing
for
influence
in
the
strategically
located
islands.

Muizzu’s
role
as
president
was
not
affected
by
Sunday’s
vote
but
the
endorsement
of
his
party
is
likely
to
embolden
his
push
to
put
an
end
to
the
country’s
traditional
“India-First”
policy.

His
government
has
previously

pledged
to
remove
all
of
India’s
military
personnel
from
the
country.

A
spokesperson
for
China’s
foreign
ministry
on
Monday
said
that
Beijing
was
willing
to
work
with
the
Maldives “to
maintain
the
traditional
friendship
between
the
two
countries,
expand
exchanges
and
cooperation
in
various
fields,
and
deepen
the
comprehensive
strategic
partnership,”
according
to
a

report
from
China’s
Global
Times
newspaper.