Ex-strongman's half-brother takes power in Maldives

MALÉ: Abdulla Yameen, the winner of Saturday's elections in the Maldives, is the half-brother of the islands' ruler of 30 years who had appeared destined to remain in the shadow of his older sibling.

The 54-year-old Yameen, who pipped former president Mohamed Nasheed at the post in a run-off contest, is a mild-mannered former civil servant whom few people would have predicted would lead his family back to power.

But he showed more than a dash of the political cunning of his half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom by overhauling Nasheed by sealing up the votes of Nasheed's opponents.

After the outgoing president Mohamed Waheed secured just five percent of votes in a first election in September that was later declared invalid, Yameen emerged as the main challenger to Nasheed.

And when Nasheed failed to win an outright majority in a first round of voting on November 9, Yameen managed to forge an alliance with the third-placed candidate Qasim Ibrahim.

Gayoom, who ruled the paradise islands with an iron fist before being toppled by Nasheed in a 2008 election, remains the head of Yameen's party and is expected to continue to exert influence behind the scenes.

After working as a surveyor, Yameen got his first taste of government under Gayoom when he served in his cabinet as a trade minister and as employment minister.

Gayoom stuffed the major state institutions, such as the judiciary and police, with his supporters who were to prove a thorn in the side of Nasheed's ill-fated rule.

Nasheed was ousted in the aftermath of a police mutiny in February last year, blaming his downfall on Gayoom and his supporters.

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party had argued during the election campaign that a vote for Yameen was a vote to bring the autocratic rule of Gayoom.

However Gayoom is now 75 years old and is taking more of a backseat role despite still being the head of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

Once he is inaugurated, Yameen's main challenge will be to convince the international community that he is not simply a puppet of Gayoom.

But his election will nevertheless likely be welcomed by the islands' vital tourist industry as he is seen as more pro-business than Nasheed.

Owners of the upmarket resorts that represent the islands' economic lifeblood will also hope his election averts the prospect of more political chaos.

Nasheed's ouster in 2012 triggered a wave of cancellations by tourists who had seen the Indian Ocean archipelago as a palm-fringed haven of peace and tranquility. (AFP)