Jumhooree Party's leader Qasim Ibrahim was elected as the new Speaker of the Parliament on Thursday night.
MP Qasim received 62 votes, while his opponent, MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla. received 16 votes. Additionally, two votes were invalid.
The sitting was attended by 80 parliamentarians who took part in the secret voting.
MP Qasim was contesting on behalf of the opposition coalition while MP Abdul Raheem was contesting from ruling Progressive Party of Maldives.
A temporary committee of five members overlooked the voting process and counted the votes.
The newly elected speaker has been a member of parliament for 18 years. He had filled the role of parliament speaker during the revision phase of the current parliament from 2004 to 2008.
The parliament sitting to elect a new speaker was held following Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed's resignation as the speaker earlier on Thursday.
MP Maseeh did not take part in the sitting held to elect the new speaker.
Speaking to the media after his election, Qasim promised to remain loyal to the people, state and the religion of Islam.
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