Male, Maldives: Maldives opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won the presidential election in an unexpected victory over the strongman incumbent who had jailed his top rivals and Supreme Court justices.

Solih won 58.3 per cent of the vote on Sunday over President Yameen Abdul Gayoom with 89.2 per cent turnout, according to the Maldives Election Commission. The veteran politician had 134,616 votes and incumbent Yameen 96,132 votes.

Commission spokesman Ahmed Akram says the final results will be released within the seven-day window parties have to challenge the results in court.

Supporters of Maldives' opposition presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih celebrate their victory in Male, Maldives, on Monday. Credit:AP

Yameen was slow to concede the race, but the Maldives' foreign ministry had already released a statement saying Solih had won, and that voting and the vote-counting process had "proceeded smoothly".