SOURCE: PTI
China on Monday congratulated Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) which has secured an absolute majority in Sunday’s Parliament polls and expressed its willingness to deepen the “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” between the two countries.
Muizzu-led PNC won 68 out of 93 seats in Sunday’s polls and its coalition partners Maldives National Party (MNP) and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) won one and two seats, respectively, which is more than two-thirds of the Parliament, landing the party an easy supermajority with the power to amend the Constitution.
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), led by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is
seen as a pro-India leader, won only 15 seats this time. The parliamentary majority for the PNC would give Muizzu the legislative backing to shape the foreign policy of the strategically placed archipelagic state in the Indian Ocean geographically located close to India’s southern coast. Commenting on the PNC’s victory, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here that Beijing wants to congratulate the Maldives on the successful parliament election and respect the choice made by the people.
“China would like to work with the Maldives and carry forward the traditional friendship and
cooperation in all fields, deepen our comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and build a
community of shared future between the two countries benefits the two peoples,” he said. Ever since his election as President in October last year Muizzu, who defeated the pro-India incumbent Solih, moved closer to China signing what the two countries term as a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” besides 20 pacts to assist Maldives infrastructure after meeting with President Xi Jinping here in January.