Polls open in Maldives' parliamentary elections

Voters hit the polling stations across the Maldives as polling in the parliamentary election, local media reported.

Polls opened at 8am (local time) and will close at 5:30pm on Sunday.

Some 368 candidates, including 42 women of six political parties, are vying for 93 seats in the parliament, reported local English daily The Sun.

Over 280,000 voters are eligible to cast their votes, according to the election authorities.

The South Asian country has set up 602 polling stations across the constituencies, while three are stationed overseas in Sri Lankan capital Colombo, Trivandrum in India, and Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The elections are viewed as crucial for President Mohamed Muizzu, whose policies are keenly watched by regional heavyweights India and China, which vie for influence in the archipelago nation.

Both countries are seeking a toehold in the Maldives, which has a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

Shifting dynamics

Maldives is primarily known as one of the most expensive holiday destinations in South Asia, with pristine white beaches and secluded resorts.

Global east-west shipping lanes pass the nation's chain of 1,192 tiny coral islands, which stretch around 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator.

Muizzu won last September's presidential poll as a proxy for pro-China ex-president Abdulla Yameen, freed last week after a court set aside his 11-year jail term for corruption.

This month, as campaigning for the parliamentary elections was in full swing, Muizzu awarded high-profile infrastructure contracts to Chinese state-owned companies.

His administration is also in the process of sending home a garrison of 89 Indian troops who operate reconnaissance aircraft gifted by New Delhi to patrol the Maldives' vast maritime borders.

The current parliament, dominated by the pro-India Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of Muizzu's immediate predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, has sought to stymie his efforts to realign the archipelago's diplomacy.

"Geopolitics is very much in the background as parties campaign for votes in Sunday's election," a senior aide of Muizzu told AFP, asking not to be named.

"He came to power on a promise to send back Indian troops, and he is working on it. The parliament has not been cooperating with him since he came to power."

Since Muizzu came to office, lawmakers have blocked three of his nominees to the cabinet and refused some of his spending proposals.