BFF-40 Solih sworn in as Maldives president, replacing pro-China leader

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Solih sworn in as Maldives president, replacing pro-China leader

COLOMBO, Nov 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was inaugurated
Saturday as the new president of the Maldives after the opposition united to
dislodge pro-China strongman leader Abdulla Yameen in September elections.

Solih, 54, emerged as common opposition candidate as all key dissidents
were either jailed or forced into exile by Yameen who took power following a
controversial run-off in 2013.

At a special session of parliament held at the National Football Stadium in
the capital Male, Solih was sworn in with India’s Prime Minister Narendra
Modi among those in attendance.

The Maldives foreign ministry said China’s culture minister Luo Shugang was
also an invitee.

Modi’s presence was a reflection of the relief felt in India, which has
long held sway in the archipelago, and in the West that Yameen was voted out.

The United States and the European Union had threatened sanctions if the
vote had not been free and fair.

Both neighbouring India and Western nations watched with concern as Yameen
moved closer to Beijing which loaned the strategically placed archipelago
millions of dollars for infrastructure.

“I am confident that my visit will herald a new era of even closer
exchanges and cooperation between our two countries,” Modi said on Facebook,
especially in “infrastructure, health care, connectivity and human resource
development.”

Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has pledged to end what it called
“China’s colonialism” and to resist a “land grab” in the country which
straddles key East-West shipping routes.

MDP leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed has vowed his party would
reduce reliance on China and renegotiate millions of dollars in loans taken
from Beijing.

More than 80 percent the Maldives foreign debt is owed to China, he said.

– Beijing loans –

China has also loaned other countries around the Indian Ocean and beyond
large amounts of money for infrastructure projects as part of Beijing’s Belt
and Road Initiative, alarming the West.

Sri Lanka last year granted a 99-year lease on the Hambantota deep-sea port
to Beijing, after it was unable to repay Chinese loans for the $1.4-billion
project.

Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka’s prime minister when Colombo took out the
loans, is looking to return to power in the severe current political crisis
gripping the island nation.

During a recent visit to Colombo in the middle of his election campaign,
Solih told reporters that he wanted to repair ties with immediate neighbours
Sri Lanka and India.

Yameen awarded major infrastructure projects to China while taking away a
major airport development from India.

He also relied on Beijing for diplomatic support as the Maldives faced
international isolation over his dismal rights record.

Modi had cancelled his first visit to the country in 2015 after Yameen
detained pro-India Nasheed and eventually had him convicted on a terrorism
charge and jailed for 13 years.

BSS/AFP/ARS/1846 hrs