The Guardian-Pro-China candidate Mohamed Muizzu wins Maldives presidency upending relationship with India
September 30, 2023 3 min 463 words
这篇报道表明，在马尔代夫的总统选举中，亲华候选人穆罕默德·穆伊兹胜出，这将再次颠覆该国与传统盟友印度的关系。这次选举被广泛视为是否追求与中国或印度更紧密联系的公投，因为两者争夺在这个岛国的影响力。穆伊兹领导的政党在上次执政时，引入了大量中国贷款，而马尔代夫以其豪华海滩度假胜地和名人游客而闻名。 穆伊兹在决选中获得了超过54%的选票，导致现任总统易卜拉欣·穆罕默德·索利赫在午夜前不久宣布败选。这一结果颠覆了索利赫五年前上任以来试图将该国外交立场重新调整回新德里的努力。穆伊兹在前政府的发展计划中发挥了关键作用，该计划部分由中国的“一带一路”基础设施倡议提供财政支持。 马尔代夫位于印度洋中间的战略要地，位于世界上最繁忙的东西航运航线之一上。穆伊兹的导师、前总统阿卜杜拉·亚明曾大举借款于中国进行建设项目，并对印度采取冷淡态度。索利赫于2018年当选，反对亚明日益专断的统治，并指责他将国家推入中国的债务陷阱。亚明向北京的转向也引起了新德里的担忧，后者与美国及其盟友共享对中国在印度洋地区不断增强的自信态度的担忧。 穆伊兹承诺释放亚明，目前亚明因贪污被判刑11年，关押在同一监狱岛上，他在任内监禁了许多政治对手。在周六的短暂露面中，穆伊兹敦促即将卸任的总统行使其行政权力，将亚明转移到家庭监禁。周六选举的投票率为85%，略高于本月早些时候举行的第一轮投票。监察团体“透明马尔代夫”表示有一些“选举暴力”事件，但没有具体说明。官员表示，一名选民打开了一个塑料投票箱，但选票得以保存，计票工作没有中断。警方报告逮捕了14人，主要是因为拍摄他们标记的选票并在社交媒体上分享它们。这一结果将引发全球关于中国在印度洋地区影响力扩大的担忧，以及对马尔代夫外交政策未来方向的讨论。
Pro-China candidate Mohamed Muizzu won Saturday’s presidential election in the Maldives, a result set to once again upend the archipelago’s relationship with traditional partner India.
Muizzu helms a party that presided over an influx of Chinese loans when it last held power in the atoll nation, better known for its luxury beach resorts and celebrity tourists.
He won over 54% of the vote in the run-off contest, prompting incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to concede defeat shortly before midnight.
“Congratulations to president-elect Muizzu,” Solih wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I also congratulate the people who have shown a peaceful and democratic process.”
Muizzu made a brief appearance outside his party’s campaign headquarters to urge supporters not to celebrate until Sunday morning, when campaign restrictions officially come to an end.
Solih will serve as caretaker president until his successor is inaugurated on 17 November.
The result upends Solih’s efforts to revert the country’s diplomatic posture back towards New Delhi since taking office five years ago.
Muizzu played a pivotal role in an earlier government’s development program, bankrolled in part by financial largesse from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
He told a meeting with Chinese Communist party officials last year that his party’s return to office would “script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries”.
The Maldives sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes.
Muizzu’s mentor, former president Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India.
Solih was elected in 2018 on the back of discontent with Yameen’s increasingly autocratic rule, accusing him of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap.
Yameen’s turn towards Beijing had also alarmed New Delhi, which shares concerns with the United States and its allies about China’s growing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean.
Muizzu has vowed to free Yameen, currently serving an 11-year sentence for corruption on the same prison island where he had jailed many of his political opponents during his tenure.
In his brief appearance on Saturday, Muizzu urged the outgoing president to use his executive power and transfer Yameen to house arrest.
Turnout in Saturday’s poll was 85%, slightly higher than the first-round vote held earlier this month. Watchdog group Transparency Maldives said there had been some incidents of “electoral violence”, without specifying further details.
Officials said one voter broke open a plastic ballot box, but the ballots were saved and there was no interruption to the count. Police reported arresting 14 people, mostly for taking photographs of their marked ballot papers and sharing them on social media.