The anti-India narrative seems to have worked well for Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu. He won last year’s presidential poll on claims and promises to cut off Indian influence with his clear and blatant “India Out” campaign. This year’s election results have been a repeat of sorts with the Maldives’ ruling party securing a big win in Sunday’s parliamentary election.
The election results are being viewed as fertile ground that will further jeopardise the island nation's diplomatic tensions with India and its gravitation towards China. Early leads made it amply clear that President Mohamed Muizzu’s ruling party People’s National Congress (PNC) was expected to win more than two-thirds of the 93 parliamentary seats, as per reports in the local media. The main opposition party and its next close rival Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) have managed to secure only 15 seats. The results show that PNC won 66 seats out of 93.
It’s been an election that is crucial for not just the ruling President Muizzu, who has made his pro-Beijing stand quite clear since coming to power last September, but also other key players in the Indian Ocean. The archipelago nation has also simultaneously drifted away from its long-time ally India.
The developments affect both New Delhi and Beijing as they keep a keen eye on the island nation known for its pristine beaches, tourism potential, luxury resorts and its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, where east-west shipping lanes are located.
The Sunday polls comprised six political parties, 368 candidates being fielded for 93 parliamentary seats with, reportedly, 2,84000 eligible voters. Muizzu, until last September, was widely seen as an alternative candidate and a proxy for former President Abdulla Yameen, whose 11 jail terms on charges of bribery were overturned by a court last week.
Within six months of taking charge of the country’s top office, President Muizzu gained significant control over the legislature. A no stranger to controversies, Muizzu has charted them both on his home turf as well as among the international community. His fallout with former President Yameen ruffled many feathers back home with Yameen setting up a rival party, the People’s National Front (PNF) ahead of Sunday elections.
Often known for his stance of wanting the Indian military out of the island nation, Muizzu in the past has also pledged to have closer ties with China. This year, in February, he again hit the news, when his verbal attack on India did not go well with opposition parties back home, making him course correct almost immediately. “We may be small but that doesn’t give you the license to bully us,” he said in an anti-India stance in the presence of Indian Ambassador Munu Mahawar, after returning from his first China visit.
After calling New Delhi a “bully”, he went so far as to say that he was determined to remove Indian troops from the country and gave a deadline of March 15 to India to withdraw troops stationed there. However, soon enough after facing immense backlash he moderated his stance and said that Male could not achieve the desired results by being short-tempered. “These are discussions and things that can be achieved by having a proper talk and explaining to everyone that our country is an independent and a democratic one,” he later changed his tune and added, “You can’t achieve things by being short-tempered.”
In Maldives, however, you can achieve things by “super majority” which his party PNC is projected to have. To be ratified in several days, a two-thirds majority in Parliament means that he has the legislative authority to amend the constitution. Around 85 Indian military troops were based in the Maldives to maintain two helicopters, a rescue aircraft and reconnaissance work.
While two batches of Indian military have already left the Maldives and given way to Indian civilian staff, the remaining troops are expected to vacate by May 10. Muizzu’s decision about ties with India must be read against the backdrop of his state visit to Beijing in January, wherein several agreements for investments were signed between the two nations. Now, the election results too must be read against the backdrop of his increasing ties with China and a deteriorating relationship with long-standing ally India.
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