Maldives ruling party secures 'highest win' in polls

Male  :   The ruling Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has won the parliamentary elections by securing the highest win -- 65 seats in the 87-member Parliament -- in the island nation's history, the Elections Commission announced on Friday.

Elections Commission spokesperson Ahmed Akram told Xinhua news agency that it was highest win for a single party which now gave the MDP a majority in Parliament.

Former President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives and the People's National Congress together won eight seats while the Jumhooree Party had secured five seats.

The Maldives Development Alliance won two seats while Independent candidates won seven seats.

According to the Elections Commission results, 212,079 people out of 264,442 cast their vote in the parliamentary election held last Saturday.

Election observers said the poll was conducted peacefully.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who is leading the MDP, following the announcement of the preliminary results earlier this week, congratulated all the winners.