Pro-China party on course for landslide victory in Maldives election

Provisional results give President Mohamed Muizzu’s PNC party a supermajority in parliament, with opposition far behind.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party has won Sunday’s election in a landslide, according to preliminary results.

The People’s National Congress (PNC) won 70 out of 93 seats to take full control of parliament, local media reports said early on Monday. The outcome is likely to accelerate the country’s shift away from traditional ally India in favour of China.

Boosted by three seats secured by allies, the results – if confirmed – hand the PNC a supermajority. Full official results are expected later on Monday.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is seen as pro-India, won only 15 seats against 65 in the outgoing parliament, according to local news site Mihaaru.

Only three female candidates of the 41 who contested were elected, Mihaaru reported. All three are members of Muizzu’s PNC.

A formal ratification of the results is expected to take a week and the new assembly will take office from early May.

The vote was seen as a crucial test for Muizzu’s plan to press ahead with closer economic cooperation with China after winning the presidential election last September.

The PNC and its allies had only eight seats in the outgoing parliament, which made it difficult for Muizzu to push ahead with his policies after winning the presidential election.

The MDP, which had previously a supermajority, looked set for a humiliating defeat with just a dozen seats even before the preliminary results were announced.

The Maldives, a low-lying nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800km (500 miles) across the equator, is one of the