A united Opposition has ousted a strongman who had gamed the system in every which way possible to ensure his re-election.

• Media coverage of the Opposition was sparse, AFP reported. Media had to deal with intimidation tactics, including defamation cases.
  
• Several of the Opposition leaders were in prison.
  
• Some neighbours were concerned about the country’s lurch towards more hardline attitudes on religious issues.
  

Make no mistake.

The strongman who has been voted out as President is Abdulla Yameen, and the country the Maldives — the Indian Ocean archipelago at the centre of a battle for influence between India and China.

Joint Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was voted to power and Yameen conceded defeat, easing fears of the rerun of a political crisis.

India could not hide its relief as Yameen had been gravitating towards China and taking a hard line on religion. The Chinese investments in the Maldives are seen as part of Beijing’s “String of Pearls” strategy, developing a network of friendly ports in the region from Sri Lanka to Pakistan.

New Delhi did not wait for the official announcement and welcomed the “successful completion of the third presidential election process in the Maldives” early Monday morning.

At night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up the President-elect to congratulate him, and the two agreed to work with each other closely to promote neighbourly relations.

Maldivians turned out in large numbers on Sunday and waited patiently to cast their vote decisively against the authoritarian regime of Yameen and in favour of a man who became the joint Opposition candidate because most others were either under arrest or in exile.

As many as 89.2 per cent of the electorate voted. Yameen got 41.7 per cent of the votes, well behind Solih on 58.3 per cent. Early trends had indicated an upset and the result was clear shortly after midnight but the suspense prevailed as there was no official announcement till several hours later. It was only this morning that the Elections Commission of Maldives announced the result, and Yameen conceded defeat sometime later. In a televised address, he said: The Maldivian people have decid¬ed what they want. I have ac¬cepted the results.”

By then, the Indian statement had articulated the “hope that the Election Commission will officially confirm the result at the earliest”.

The Indian statement betrayed apprehensions within the foreign ministry of a possible effort by Yameen to negate the verdict. He had jailed two Supreme Court judges earlier this year to force the reversal of a verdict quashing the conviction of nine Opposition leaders, including former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Since Yameen had made several moves to stay in power over the past six months —— beginning with the declaration of Emergency which was criticised by India and the US — the only shot the Opposition had at putting an end to his regime was to stick together and fight as one.

Once that was settled, the second battle was to ensure a high turnout, and the people of Maldives did not disappoint.

Popularly known as “Ibu”, Solih is Nasheed’s cousin and a founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which led the coalition that won the election.

Additional reporting by Reuters and AFP

Yameen File picture