Another country entered China’s sphere of influence: the pro-Beijing party won a landslide victory

According to the information released on the preliminary results, Muiz’s party

won 65 seats in the 93-member parliament,

while the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, which previously had a majority in the legislature, received a total of 12 mandates.

More than 207,000 voters went to the polls on Sunday, which means a turnout of over 70 percent. A total of 326 candidates competed for seats in the legislature, which was expanded from the previous 87 to 93.

The vote also had geopolitical stakes in the traditionally India-friendly Maldives, whose incumbent president would rather be closer to China.

Elected last year, Muiz promised to end the country’s “India first” foreign policy, and in November his government called on New Delhi to withdraw its troops from the country. Malé signed a military aid agreement with Beijing in March 2023, further raising tensions between the island nation and India.

We previously wrote more about this topic in this article:

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