MALE: The president-elect of the Maldives, Moha­med Muizzu, secur­­ed the release of his jailed mentor on Sunday, a day after divisive polls that saw the pro-Beijing leader vow to rebalance relations with New Delhi.

Bowing to Muizzu’s request, outgoing president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ordered the transfer of his predecessor Abdulla Yameen from a high-security prison island to house arrest in the capital Male.

Hundreds of supporters cheered and waved pink flags of their Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) as Yameen arrived at his home, party officials said.

Muizzu was a proxy candidate of Yameen, who is still serving an 11-year sentence for corruption carried out when he was in power between 2013 and 2018.

PM Kakar congratulates Maldives president-elect

Officials said Solih did not have powers to pardon Yameen, but the only concession he could make was to transfer the convict to house arrest. Solih, 61, will serve as caretaker president until his successor is inaugurated on Nov 17.

‘All Maldivian citizens’

Shortly after he was declared the winner, Muizzu, the 45-year-old current mayor of Male, urged unity in the politically divided nation. “No matter their political affiliation, they are all Maldivian citizens in front of me,” Muizzu told supporters after his win late on Saturday.

Before his jailing, Yameen had led an “India-out” campaign to remove New Delhi’s deployment of a small detachment of security personnel to operate four reconnaissance aircraft gifted to the archipelago.

During his five years in power, Yameen had also shifted into China’s orbit, moving away from India which had been a traditional benefactor of the small but strategically important Indian Ocean neighbour.

There was no immediate formal reaction from China, but the Chinese ambassador in Male, Wang Lixin, reposted a local meme of Muizzu’s victory on X.

Caretaker Prime Minis­ter Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Sunday felicitated president-elect Muizzu on his victory. “Heartiest congratulations to Dr Moha­med Muizzu on his victory in the presidential elections of Maldives, the PM said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Look forward to working with him for further strengthening Pak-Maldives relations and regional cooperation”, he added.

Washington congratulated the president-elect and said the two countries have a “strong relationship based on mutual respect and shared interests.” “The United States looks forward to deepening our partnership with Maldives and expanding our people-to-people ties,” the State Department said in a statement.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to congratulate Muizzu on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2023