Malè, a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. Growing distance from Beijing
The Maldivian Democratic Party, led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, won 65 seats out of a total of 87. The agreements signed with China are under careful scrutiny.
Malè (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) led by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has swept the parliamentary elections that were held on April 6th. The political force, back in vogue after the long exile of its leader Mohamed Nasheed, who returned home just five months ago, defeated the opposition of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) winning two-thirds of the seats in Parliament (called People's Majilis ), that is 65 deputies out of a total of 87.
The new parliamentary composition thus gives a free hand to what was announced by Solih on the eve of the vote: scrutinize the infrastructure agreements with Beijing for the New Chinese Silk Road, which created incurable debts and led the country to the brink of bankruptcy.
Yesterday, former president Nasheed said: "The government continues to examine the agreements signed by the previous government, many of which - it is our fear - depended on large-scale corruption. We must allow the authorities to analyze these agreements with forensic attention".
The electoral campaign was played precisely on the fight against the corruption of the regime of Abdulla Yameen, head of the PPM and historical rival of Nasheed, the first democratically elected president in the Maldives and very close to India.
Various commentators, especially from the Indian side, argue that the political turnaround of the archipelago, where 340,000 Sunni Muslims live, has now begun. An editorial published two days ago in the Delhi daily Hindustan Times recalls that Yameen persecuted political opponents last year, indicted two Supreme Court judges who had criticized him, restricted civil liberties by declaring a state of emergency .
The tightening on the life of the country has aroused a widespread discontent that has found its final expression in the surprise election of Solih to the presidency, last September. The conditions for Nasheed's return home and the start of a reform process were laid. Among the most important on which the next Parliament will work, the introduction of the minimum wage and the imposition of the first tax collection system.
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05/04/2019 13:53
24/09/2018 10:51
