Asia

Reformist Maldives leader seeks to overcome split in polls

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE-In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, file photo Ibrahim Mohamed Solih speaks after being sworn in as the country's new President in Male, Maldives. Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is hoping that parliamentary elections on Saturday will help him overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to fulfill key pledges from last year's presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sharuhaan, file)

FILE- In this Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, file photo, a boat carrying people from a remote atoll arrives to the main boat terminal in Male, Maldives. Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is hoping that parliamentary elections on Saturday will help him overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to fulfill key pledges from last year's presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, file)

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is hoping Saturday's parliamentary elections will help him overcome a coalition split that has hampered his efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.

Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party is seeking at least 44 seats in the 87-member Parliament for a majority to pass legislation needed to implement pledges from last year's presidential campaign. His coalition currently has 52 seats, but one partner with 22 seats is now aligned with former strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Solih defeated Yameen last year, giving new hope to the young democracy that has gone through a tumultuous transition that threatened to drag the Indian Ocean archipelago back to its autocratic past. Yameen had curtailed freedom of speech and jailed his political rivals.