Maldives News | Maldivian President Mohamed Muijju has suffered a major setback in the Malé mayoral election. The pro-India opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won a landslide victory in the mayoral election in the capital Male on Saturday.

Victory by a large margin

MDP candidate Adam Azim was elected as the new mayor of Male. The post was earlier held by Muijju and he resigned last year to contest the presidential election. Maldivian media hailed Azim's victory as a victory by a wide margin.

Advantage in early trends

The MDP is led by the pro-India former president Mohamed Soleh, who lost the presidential election to the pro-Chinese Muijju. According to reports, Azim had a huge lead with 5,303 votes after counting of 41 boxes.

Azima Shakur got 3,301 votes

While Ashath Azima Shakur of Muijju's party People's National Congress (PNC) got only 3,301 votes. The mayoral election was held after objectionable comments made by three ministers of the Muijju government against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This led to a diplomatic dispute between Maldives and India.