‘Sri Lanka open for Yameen'

THE defeated strongman of the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, is welcome in neighbouring Sri Lanka, Colombo said on Tuesday (25), two days after his surprise defeat in presidential elections.

Sri Lanka has long been a haven for dissidents from the nearby Maldives over years

of political upheaval, including for hundreds of opponents of Yameen since he became president in 2013.

In a phone call on Monday (24), Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe “informed Mr Yameen that he is welcome in Colombo at any time,” Wickremesinghe’s office

said. He made the call after hosting Yameen’s rival and former Maldives president

Mohamed Nasheed at a luncheon meeting.

Nasheed, the atoll nation’s first democratically elected leader, was sentenced to 13 years in jail after narrowly losing the 2013 elections to Yameen.

He fled to London where he sought refuge and now lives in Sri Lanka.

Last Sunday’s (23) election was held with all key opposition leaders behind bars

or in exile, leaving the little known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to challenge Yameen.

In a major upset, Solih won with 58 per cent of the vote.

Solih’s victory was greeted warmly by India as Yameen had drifted closer to China, borrowing heavily from New Delhi’s regional rival to invest in infrastructure.

Declaring victory, Solih demanded Yameen immediately release all political prisoners in the country. A Maldivian court freed five of them on Monday night.