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Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu Consolidates Control

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The Pulse | Diplomacy | South Asia

Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu Consolidates Control

With his People’s National Congress gaining a supermajority in parliament, the pro-China tilt in Muizzu’s foreign policy will become more pronounced.

Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu Consolidates Control

Maldivian President Dr Mohamed Muizzu

Credit: Wikimedia/ President’s Office of the Republic of Maldives

Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) secured a landslide victory in the Indian Ocean archipelago’s fourth multiparty parliamentary elections on April 21. The party won 66 seats on its own, and with six independents aligning with it, the PNC government’s tally in the 93-member Maldivian parliament has risen to 72 seats. As for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which had swept to power in the 2018 presidential elections and the 2019 parliamentary elections, it won only 12 seats in the recent election. The People’s National Front (PNF) and The Democrats, which were floated by former Presidents Abdullah Yameen and Mohammad Nasheed, drew a blank.

As a candidate of the People’s National Congress-Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) coalition, Muizzu secured 54.04 percent of the vote in last year’s presidential election to become the Maldives’ eighth president. With his party, the PNC, now holding a supermajority in parliament, Muizzu has consolidated his position. Moreover, there is a measure of stability in the Maldives now.

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