The Election Commission of Maldives on Saturday released the final results of last Sunday’s presidential elections — confirming the triumph of democracy over a strongman’s intentions — despite pressure from the ruling party to delay the announcement.

The release ended another effort by defeated President Abdulla Yameen to hold on to power. The final results confirmed the preliminary count announced last Monday. Election Commission chief Ahmed Shareef — a Yameen loyalist — said all five election commissioners had received threat calls over the past week.

Earlier, Shareef had confirmed to the AVAS newspaper that the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives had asked the commission to delay the announcement of the official results. Maldivian law mandates that the official announcement is made within a week and the deadline was supposed to expire on Sunday.

Late on Friday night, the commission announced on Twitter that it would conduct an “important press briefing” on Saturday.

Besides putting out the final voting details, Shareef said the commission had received 423 complaints about the election by Thursday. However, the “complaints bureau and the commission decided that none of the complaints filed with the commission will affect the outcome of the election”.

Despite the formal announcement of the results, Yameen will stay in office till November 17 as the presidential tenure is for five years from the date of assuming charge.

He conceded defeat on Monday but subsequent efforts to persuade the commission to delay the announcement sparked fears in the Opposition camp about renewed efforts by the outgoing President to remain in office.

The euphoria over the surprise win in the Opposition camp gave way to apprehension even though the police and the military have thrown in their lot with President-in-waiting Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

After Saturday’s announcement, Solih tweeted: “Thank you to the people of the Maldives, for your unwavering spirit & strength in our struggle for justice & democracy. Today we are victorious. Congratulations to all who made this happen. I aspire to be a President for all Maldivians and look forward to working with you all.’’

His cousin and former President Mohamed Nasheed also tweeted from exile: “We finally have the official election results. The people of the Maldives have said a resounding no to autocratic strongman politics. They have endorsed democracy again. Thank you and congratulations to President-elect @ibusolih. A very proud moment.”