From Chinese debt and religious violence to rights abuses and graft, a look at challenges facing Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Cannons blasted the balmy air of Male with a 21-gun salute on Saturday, just moments after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih finished taking the oath of office as the seventh president of the Maldives.
It was a momentous occasion, one that capped a tense, months-long presidential contest, and a subsequent period of post-election uncertainty following years of political turmoil in the small Indian Ocean island nation.
In a shock result, Solih, a 54-year-old veteran legislator, defeated Abdulla Yameen in the September 23 polls, held against widespread public anger over corruption and rights abuses, including the jailing of nearly all opposition leaders.
In his inaugural address, delivered before thousands of people at the national football stadium in the capital, Solih vowed to establish justice and tackle corruption.
Still, he faces an uphill battle to restore stability and push through democratic and economic reforms.
Here, Al Jazeera takes a look at five of his biggest challenges: Chinese debt
In his speech, Solih said the Maldives was “in a precarious financial situation” owing to “reckless development projects”, and appealed for help from foreign countries and international organisations to stabilise the economy.
Under Yameen, Beijing had loaned an estimated $1.5bn to the Maldives to fund an upgrade of the country’s main international airport – a bridge linking it to Male – as well as massive housing projects in a new population centre.
The debt figure is more than a quarter of the country’s annual gross domestic product.
In March, the US-based Centre for Global Development in March identified the Maldives as one of eight countries subject to high debt distress because of investments from China.
Ibrahim Ameer, Solih’s choice for the crucial post of finance minister, told Al Jazeera on Sunday he was “worried” about the debt and said the country needs up to $300m in budgetary support straightaway. The Maldives was now in talks with India, the United States and Saudi Arabia for assistance, the newly appointed minister said.
Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was among the 300 foreign dignitaries to attend Solih’s inauguration on his first visit to the country, has already pledged help. Unwieldy coalition
Solih joined the presidential race at the eleventh hour after receiving the backing of a coalition of four political parties, whose leaders were either in jail or exile. Among them were former presidents, Mohamed Nasheed and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, as well as tourism tycoon Qasim Ibrahim, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency twice before.
Despite joining forces, the four parties have significant ideological differences and their leaders have clashed fiercely for more than a decade.
