Maldives president wins presidential primary

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ANKARA (AA) – Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) presidential primary election, becoming eligible to contest for another term, the preliminary results showed on Sunday.

Preliminary results showed that the MDP was on track to win over two-thirds of the 87 seats in the parliament, the local news media reported.

His challenger, a former president and incumbent speaker of the parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, nonetheless has rejected the results, terming them "flawed."

His party says the results are questionable, as voter tallies in some ballot stations did not match the total eligible voters.

Rejecting the claim, Solih said there is no room to question the validity of the primary, according to the PSM News.

Speaking to the media after voting at a polling station, Solih said there was no incident of vote-rigging in the primary election, lauding the arrangements, which according to him, were made by "experienced" individuals.

This is the first time that a sitting president has faced a primary challenge in Maldives.

A chain of islands southwest of India, the tiny nation has traditionally been under New Delhi’s sphere of influence.

Yet it also stretches across maritime routes that are crucial to China.

Beijing has recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure projects in the Maldives.