Ex-Maldives president makes comeback with big victory

Male: The former Maldives president on Sunday vowed sweeping reforms and an end to government corruption after leading his party to a record landslide victory just five months since returning from exile.

Mohamed Nasheed, 51, made a dramatic return to the top of the national parliament, with his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) securing more than two-thirds in the 87-member assembly.

Nasheed promised to use his party's mandate to usher in a new era of stability and democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago as it emerges from years of strongman rule, political crises and corruption scandals miring the government and judiciary.

"Our foremost duty is to bring peace to the government", Nasheed told supporters in the capital Male on Sunday.

Provisional results from the Elections Commission showed Nasheed's party won 68 seats with the Jamhooree Party a distant second, securing just seven. The party of former strongman president Abudulla Yameen trailed with only four.

Nasheed's comprehensive victory was another rebuke for his arch-rival Yameen, who was dumped in a shock election defeat in September under a cloud of corruption and embezzlement allegations.

Yameen did not run, but his party — the Progressive Party of Maldives — finished in third. The remaining seats were collected by minor parties and independents.

Nasheed was barred from running in the presidential election but his former deputy, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, emerged triumphant over Yameen.