UK expects Maldives to uphold presidential election results

The United Kingdom's Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field, on Sunday expressed hopes that the Maldivian government will uphold the decision made by the people in the recently held Presidential Election.

Currently on his first visit to the Maldives, Field met with President-Elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohamed Asim, Parliament Speaker Abdulla Maseeh, as well as senior officials of the opposition coalition.

Speaking of his visit in a video message taken in front of the parliament house in capital Male, Field highlighted the high voter turnout of 89 percent in the election held on September 23, and expressed hopes that the decision made by the people to have a change of government will be respected.

"We have made it very clear that we expect, not just the UK government but along with the international community, that the will of the Maldivian people is fully upheld," said Field, adding that the UK is looking forward to working closely with the new administration to strengthen bilateral ties.

According to the final election results released by the Elections Commission, President-Elect Solih received 134,705 votes in his favour, while incumbent President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom received 96,052, marking the widest margin in a presidential election in the Maldives' young democratic history.

While the UK, along with a number of other nations have congratulated Solih, President Yameen and his ruling Progressive Party of Maldives have recently declared that the polling had been rigged and the election results false.