People power

People power

Democracy has triumphed in Maldives which bodes well for stability in the region.

President Abdulla Yameen of Maldives yesterday conceded defeat in the recent general elections, raising hopes that the transfer of power in the archipelago will be smooth. Yameen, who was elected in 2013, gradually turned authoritarian. By the beginning of this year, he had not only jailed many opposition leaders, emergency was declared and two of the five apex court judges were arrested. Simultaneously, he pushed Maldives into China’s orbit by signing up for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and undermined the historically close relationship with India.

The unexpected victory of joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite attempts to rig the institutions of the island nation’s fledgling democracy, is therefore a welcome reprieve – comparable to the Janata’s 1977 election victory in India which ended the Emergency. India must now work with other powers to ensure that the Maldives’ transition to democracy is smooth. Political instability in Maldives had spilled over with a section of the opposition asking India to intervene militarily. Now that Solih has won by a comfortable margin, he should be able to act on a campaign promise of mending relations with long-standing friends such as India. However, China will continue to be an influential player in Maldives on account of its economic clout.

Yameen’s authoritarian turn was countered by US and EU, along with India. The former threatened economic sanctions as a tool to revive democracy. Therefore, it’s in India’s interest to work in tandem with US and EU to help Maldives navigate a challenging situation. Sri Lanka’s experience shows that BRI can lead to debt traps and political turmoil. Thus, apart from aiding in Maldives’ democratic transition, multilateral lending institutions could be tapped to counter BRI in the provision of development finance.