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Maldives election commission confirms opposition victory

The Maldives' election commission has released the final results of this month's presidential election, confirming the victory of longtime lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

Maldives election commission confirms opposition victory Image Source : APMaldives election commission confirms opposition victory

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Maldives' election commission has released the final results of this month's presidential election, confirming the victory of longtime lawmaker Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

The results released on Saturday showed that Solih received 58.4 percent of the votes cast in the Sept. 23 election.

The commission had already released provisional results. According to the election law, the commission must release the official results within seven days of the election.

The election outcome surprised many, given opposition warnings that the voting could be rigged by strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who lost to Solih.

Since getting elected in 2013, Yameen had cracked down on political dissent, jailing rivals — including his half brother and the Maldives' first democratically elected president — and Supreme Court justices.

Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.