A day after his victory in the Maldives’s election run-off, President-elect Mohamed Muizzu secured the transfer of former President and jailed Maldivian leader Abdulla Yameen to home confinement.
Mr. Yameen, who was serving a 11-year-jail term following conviction in a corruption case, returned home on Sunday, to a rousing welcome from his supporters, according to local media.
Soon after Saturday’s poll verdict, Mr. Muizzu requested President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to release Mr. Yameen. “This truly is joyous, and the decision is in the best interest of the majority of the people. We want justice for him [Yameen],” Mr. Muizzu later said, while thanking President Solih, Male-based publication The Edition reported on Monday.
Abdulla Yameen | An anti-India hardliner
Mr. Muizzu, who beat incumbent Mr. Solih in the second round of the presidential poll, was fielded by the opposition, after the Supreme Court barred Mr. Yameen from contesting, owing to his criminal conviction. The first round held on September 9 was inconclusive, since no candidate secured over 50 % of the votes necessary for election victory.
Over the last few years, Mr. Yameen, and broadly his political camp, mobilised several Maldivians disenchanted with the Solih administration, as part of an ‘India Out’ campaign, aimed at attacking the government’s ‘India first’ policy and close economic and developmental partnership.
It remains to be seen how Mr. Muizzu, who is expected to be sworn-in to the country’s top office on November 11, would craft his foreign policy, given his loyalty to his former boss Mr. Yameen, and the many domestic and international expectations of his presidency, helming the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in Male on Monday — his first since his electoral defeat — President Solih said he was “pleased” about “delivering his pledge” over the last five years. “Perhaps it’s a bit too soon to list my achievements in the past five years. But I want to note that I delivered good governance. I established stability,” he said, according to local news media.
