Pro-China winner transfers jailed Maldives' ex-prez to house arrest

MALE: Jailed former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen was transferred from prison to house arrest on Sunday, fulfilling the campaign promise of his party candidate who won the presidential election runoff. Yameen is serving a prison term for bribery and money laundering during his presidency from 2013 to 2018. His transfer has been ordered by outgoing President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at the request of President-elect Mohamed Muiz. Muiz will be taking oath on Nov 17.

The elections commission on Sunday released the formal results of Saturday's runoff, which showed 54.04% of the vote for Muiz with Solih receiving 45.96%. The first round took place earlier in September with none of the eight candidates securing more than 50%. The election was perceived a virtual referendum on which regional power - China or India. Muiz, considered pro-China, promised he would remove Indian troops from the Maldives and balance the country's trade relations, which he said were heavily in India's favour.

PM Narendra Modi congratulated Muiz on his election victory. "India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall co-operation in the Indian Ocean region," he said on X.