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President-elect meets new police chief

Maldives' president elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Sunday met the new police chief Hamdhoon Rasheed at the police headquarters in the capital Male.

Solih who won last month's presidential elections by an overwhelming majority was accompanied by his running mate Faisal Naseem and former police chief and lawmaker Abdulla Riyaz.

Police however did not divulge details of the meeting.

Maldives' outgoing president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Monday appointed a new police chief with just a little over a month remaining in his tenure.

Deputy police commissioner Hamdhoon Rasheed was promoted by president Yameen as the new police commissioner during a ceremony at the President's Office on Monday morning.

Hamdhoon is the third official police chief during president Yameen's five year term in office.

Yameen had named Hussain Waheed as his first police chief shortly after taking office in 2013. However, Waheed was dismissed shortly after the explosion on the presidential speedboat in 2015 which has now been confirmed as a bid to assassinate president Yameen.

Waheed's successor Hussain Areef was sacked following the Supreme Court ruling on February 1 after he vowed to implement the court ruling and release jailed politicians named in the landmark verdict. He was later arrested and jailed after being accused of the plot to overthrow the government.

After sacking Areef president Yameen had named deputy police commissioner Ahmed Saudhee as his replacement.

However, hours after president Yameen had replaced Saudhee with Abdulla Nawaz who was also a deputy commissioner.

Nawaz had been serving as the acting police chief but now has been appointed as a deputy environment minister.

The contentious shuffle came days after Nawaz had assured the president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the complete backing of the police.

Hamdhoon's appointment as the new police chief comes in the wake of reports that the central bank had launched an investigation into president Yameen's involvement in a money laundering scam.

Elections Commission on Sunday announced the official results which confirmed opposition alliance presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as the seventh president of the archipelago with a staggering 58.4 percent of the votes.

Solih had been backed by Yameen's main political rivals including the now jailed former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Nasheed along with Jumhoory Party leader and business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim.