MALDIVIAN OPPOSITION LEADER SOLIH WINS PRESIDENCY, POLL BODY CONFIRMS

COLOMBO— The Maldives’ election commission on Saturday released the final results of this month’s presidential election, confirming the victory of opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The results showed that Solih received 58.4 percent of the votes cast in the Sept. 23 election while his opponent and the current president, Yameen Abdul Gayoom, got 41.6 percent, according to the commission’s spokesperson, Ahmed Akram.

The commission had already released provisional results. According to the election law, it must release the official results within seven days of the election.

The election outcome surprised many, given opposition warnings that the voting could be rigged by Yameen.

Democracy activist

Solih, 56, was a democracy activist during decades of autocratic rule in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation and a former parliamentary majority leader.

He became the Maldivian Democratic Party’s presidential candidate after its other top figures were jailed or exiled by Yameen’s government.

Party leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed, in exile in Sri Lanka, had hoped to run again but was disqualified because of an outstanding prison sentence in the Maldives.

India and China, jostling for greater influence in the Indian Ocean region, had been watching the election closely.