All eyes on Maldives strongman after shock election defeat

Voters in the Maldives were watching nervously for President Abdulla Yameen's next move on Monday after the China-friendly strongman suffered a surprise election defeat, prompting celebrations but also concern in the Indian Ocean honeymoon islands.

Yameen was yet to comment and it was far from certain that the 59-year-old, whose main political rivals were either jailed or in exile, would graciously accept defeat in Sunday's poll, observers said.

Official results showed Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the compromise joint candidate of the weakened opposition, as the clear winner with 58.3 per cent of the vote, the biggest margin of victory in any election since the advent of democracy in 2008.

Nearly 90 per cent of the 262,000 electorate turned out to vote, with some waiting in line for more than five hours as officials encountered technical glitches.

Celebrations broke out across the 1,200-island tropical archipelago popular with wealthy foreign tourists, with opposition supporters carrying yellow flags of Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and dancing in the streets.

However, events following the last election in 2013 suggest that the celebrations in the nation of 340,000 people may be premature.

In that election, former president Mohamed Nasheed won the most votes in the first round but the supreme court annuled the result and a subsequent second vote was postponed twice.

This gave Yameen, half-brother of the country's leader for 30 years until 2008, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, enough time to forge alliances that helped him narrowly win a contested run-off.

The US State Department, which before the election warned it may take "appropriate measures" if the vote was not free and fair, on Monday called on Yameen to "respect the will of the people."
"In keeping with our 'Neighbourhood First' Policy, India looks forward to working closely with the Maldives in further deepening our partnership."