President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated that the 19th Parliament will be one of the most “progressive” parliaments in recent history, under Speaker Nasheed’s leadership.

Solih made this assertion through felicitations extended to the newly elected Parliament Speaker, Central-Mahchangoalhi MP Mohamed Nasheed and south-Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla for securing the position of Deputy Speaker, via twitter shortly after their election.

Further, Solih wrote that despite the challenges they have had to face, sight of the common goal of maintaining a democratic and prosperous Maldives has never been lost.

In a separate tweet on Tuesday night after the Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected, Solih wrote that he looks forward to working with MP Eva in the future, adding that it is “heartening” to see women in leadership roles in politics while a lot of work needs to be done as Deputy Speaker.

Also, Solih extended “warmest” felicitations to the Parliament Members who were newly sworn-in on Tuesday night. He expressed his eagerness to maintain a productive relationship with the legislature to achieve the shared vision of a peaceful and progressive country.

Alongside the President, Vice President Faisal Naseem has also congratulated Speaker Nasheed, Deputy Speaker Eva and the newly sworn-in lawmakers.

“With the grace of Allah, the 19th Parliament will be one that works closely with the people of Maldives” wrote the Vice President.

While both Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected to the 19th Parliament through main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party, the party had received a super-majority of 65 out of the 87 seats in Parliament.

The opposition coalition, Progressive Congress had received eight seats. As such, Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) won five seats while People’s National Congress won three.

Ruling coalition partner had won five seats and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) had won two seats. Seven independent members also sit in the new Parliament.

While the former Majlis tenure’s Speaker, Qasim Ibrahim also contested for the Speaker position, he garnered 17 votes with Nasheed having secured the seat with a whopping majority of 67 votes.

Eva secured 76 votes through the secret ballot on Tuesday night and was the only member to have vied for the position of Deputy Speaker.