Nasheed makes a comeback with landslide win for party
male — The former Maldives president on Sunday vowed sweeping reforms and an end to government corruption after leading his party to a landslide victory just five months since returning from exile.
Mohamed Nasheed, 51, made a dramatic return to the top of the national parliament, with his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) headed for a two-thirds majority in the 87-member assembly.
Nasheed promised to use his party’s mandate to usher in a new era of stability and democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago as it emerges from years of strongman rule, political crises and corruption scandals miring the government and judiciary. “Our foremost duty is to bring peace to the government”, Nasheed told supporters in the capital Male on Sunday.
The comprehensive victory was another rebuke for Nasheed’s archrival and autocratic former president Abdulla Yameen, who was dumped in a shock election defeat in September under a cloud of corruption and embezzlement allegations.
Yameen did not run, but his party — the Progressive Party of Maldives — ended with a poor showing and is projected to only secure four seats in the People’s Majlis, or parliament.
Nasheed was barred from running in the election but his former deputy, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, emerged triumphant over Yameen.
The former leader declared the days of “Rolex watches and Kohinoor are over”, referring to highprofile scandals in the Maldives where MPs have allegedly been bought with luxury gifts. —