Polls have closed following a parliamentary vote in the Maldives, with some 78 percent of voters casting their ballots. Political turmoil has plagued the archipelago for years, with China and India vying for influence.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/E. Jayawardena
Advertisement
The parliamentary election in the Maldives has concluded "without major incidents," an electoral commission official said on Saturday. Some 78 percent of Maldivian voters took part in the polls despite unusual heat.
Over 264,000 people were eligible to cast a ballot on the Indian Ocean archipelago, where 386 candidates are running for a place in parliament.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (pictured above) needs at least 44 seats in the 87-member parliament to secure a majority. His coalition currently has 52 seats, but one major political partner with 22 seats recently aligned with former president Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) are the main contenders in the election.
Provisional results are expected by Sunday, but official results are due only on Friday after all ballots cast outside the country have been received.
Reform pledges
Solih, who defeated Yameen in last year's presidential election, requires a majority in parliament to be able to pass legislation and implement his political and economic agenda. The president has promised reforms, an end to political influence over the judiciary, police and the bureaucracy, and a curb on financial corruption.
On Friday, he urged voters to back his party to ensure a stable government that was capable of implementing the necessary changes.
In last year's presidential election, the opposition parties had joined hands to defeat Yameen, but soon after Solih's victory, the coalition split and left the new president without a parliamentary majority.
Yameen, who was released last week from detention after being arrested in February on corruption allegations, spoke to voters through a phone call broadcast over loudspeakers.
Political turmoil
Saturday's vote also marks the comeback of the country's first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, who, after being released by the courts, is running for a seat in the election.
The Maldives, which became a multiparty democracy in 2008 after decades of authoritarian rule, has been facing political turmoil since Nasheed's resignation in 2012.
Analysts say that both China and India are trying to outdo each other's influence on the Maldives.
While Yameen was in power, China had gained more political influence across the archipelago. Under Yameen, the Maldivian economy showed signs of improvement, although economists say the country's growth was partly due to aid and investment from China.
Beijing considers the Maldives an important route in its "Belt and Road" initiative, which, along with other objectives, aims to connect the Indian Ocean to Central Asia.
Solih's MDP is considered pro-India and wants to scale down Chinese influence on the Maldives.
Ahead of the 2018 presidential election, former President Nasheed had warned Maldivians that the vote could be their last chance to liberate the country from Chinese influence.
The IPCC has warned that the impact of climate change will be felt around the world, including in some of the world's low-lying island nations and coastal regions.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Paradise lost
Small island nations around the world are already feeling the impact of rising sea levels. And probably none more so than the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, which is considered the lowest-elevation country on the planet. The average elevation of its 26 atolls is just 1.5 meters (5 feet) above sea level - so it wouldn't take much for the country to be rendered completely uninhabitable.
Image: picture alliance/chromorange
Underwater property
Rising waters have already caused some islanders to flee their homes for higher ground. On the Kiribati islands in the Pacific, some villages have been completely flooded. Local farmers also have to worry about encroachment of saltwater on their crops. The ever-approaching sea means less surface area for agriculture, and a greater need to transport food from afar.
Image: John Corcoran
Temporary escape
Around 113,000 people call the Kiribati islands home. Locals who've been displaced often end up on the main island of South Tarawa, which has a sea wall to protect low-lying properties on the shore from rising waters - but that's no permanent solution.
Image: picture-alliance/AP
Keeping the ocean at bay
The Dutch are famous for their efforts to fend off the sea - they built their first dikes to protect land from flooding more than 1,000 years ago. Today, a sophisticated system of dams and dikes allows two-thirds of the population live below sea level. Nevertheless, rising ocean levels are still a concern in the Netherlands, where there are future plans to fortify levees and build surge barriers.
Image: picture-alliance/Ton Koene
Sinking world heritage
Venice in northeastern Italy is no stranger to flooding - and according to experts, the iconic city will continue to sink. The Italian government has invested 9.6 billion euros ($7 billion) in the "Moses" water barrier project, designed to protect the city - a UNESCO World Heritage site - from rising oceans and high tides. The barriers are expected to be completed by 2016.
Image: AP
Crisis in the Caribbean
Many small islands in far-flung corners of the ocean don't have the money to fund large-scale climate change mitigation. And often, they're not just facing rising seas - they're also under threat from increasingly frequent cyclones and hurricanes. In the Caribbean islands of St. Lucia and Dominica, frequent storms wreak havoc on local agriculture, including bananas and avocados.
Image: picture-alliance/Robert Harding World Imagery
More severe storms
The devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last November is a clear example of how the unpredictability of climate change can make weather events more severe for islands. Many homes in the typhoon’s path weren’t built to withstand typhoons, which previously tended to strike the north of the country. More than 6,200 people were killed.
Image: DW/T.Kruchem
Paying for prosperity
Some argue that poorer, less-developed countries are now suffering as a consequence of Western industrialization. At the recent climate conference in Warsaw, Philippines Commissioner Yeb Saño made a passionate plea for action, saying: "What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness."
Image: DW/ A. Rönsberg
Floating in the floodwaters
Although Bangladesh is on the mainland of Asia, it faces a huge risk from climate change due to its low-lying geography and population density. A mere 1-meter (3-foot) rise in sea level would cause half the country to be under water. Communities have started adapting to increased flooding by using floating agricultural technology to grow their crops.
Image: dapd
A new brand of refugee
There are fears sea level rises could eventually displace entire populations, creating hoards of climate change refugees. One idea floated by President Anote Tong of Kiribati some years ago was the possibility of building artificial islands for displaced locals to live on. Dubai - with its artificial island projects, like the one pictured here - may be able to help by sharing its experience.
