Referendum: Early vote count delivers major blow to the government

The votes counted so far in the referendum held on Saturday on whether to ratify the government-backed amendment to the constitution to merge the two main elections in the Maldives show that the majority voted against the change.

Maldivians voted on Saturday in the local council elections, the women’s development committee (WDC) elections, as well as a referendum on merging the presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to results from 9,729 ballots received by Sun so far, 69.3 percent voted against merging the elections, while 30.7 percent supported the proposal.

On February 10, the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) used its supermajority in the Parliament to pass constitutional amendments proposed by the government to hold future presidential elections and parliamentary elections on the same day.

These constitutional amendments propose merging the two elections, and bringing forward the start of the parliamentary term from May to December 1 to get this done.

This change will shorten the five-year term of the current parliamentary assembly, sworn in on May 28, 2024, by around six months.

On February 16, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu decreed that a public referendum on this – as required by law on such matters – would be held on Saturday – the same day as the local council elections.

While the ruling PNC, along with the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and the Jumhooree Party (JP), have expressed support for holding both elections on the same day, the opposition MDP and former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom remain opposed to the amendment.

Voting began at 8:00am on Saturday, and polling stations stopped admitting voters to the queue at 17:00pm. Counting of ballots is now in progress.

The government did not only face loss in the referendum but also in the Local Council Election where MDP is leading the mayoral race in the five cities.