Preliminary results: MDP secures 35 out of 37 seats in Male’

Preliminary results from Saturday’s large-scale elections indicate that the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 35 of the 37 seats in the capital, Male’, after most ballot boxes were counted.

Voters across the Maldives took part in local council elections, Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections, and a national referendum on whether to merge presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday. 

Early results show that incumbent Male’ Mayor Adam Azim retained his position with more than 13,670 votes, defeating the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) candidate Moosa Ali Jaleel by a wide margin.

In the capital’s district council races, MDP secured 17 out of 18 seats, while the ruling party won just one.

For the WDC elections, MDP claimed 17 of the 18 seats in Male’, with only Vilimale’ going to another candidate.

In the referendum, a majority of voters rejected the government’s proposal to combine the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

The government, after huge campaign expenditure, was humiliated in the three elections held on Saturday as MDP secured all five mayoral seats across the five cities in the Maldives and the presidency of WDCs in these cities as well.

It is noted that these are the preliminary results, with Elections Commission (EC) yet to announce the final results. However, it is unlikely there will be a huge difference between the preliminary results and the final results.