Ameen Faisal withdraws name amid vote fraud allegations

Former Defence Minister Ameen Faisal has withdrawn his name after winning the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) primary for Male’ City Council Hulhu-Henveyru constituency, following allegations of more votes being cast than the number of people who turned up to vote.

Chairperson of MDP Election Committee Ibrahim Waheed said that following a complaint, it was earlier decided to annul the result the Primary for Hulhu-Henveyru and hold the election again.

He said that votes were cast in violation of the election regulation.

The total number of eligible voters for this ballot box was 500. The turnout was 113, but the number of votes cast was 130.

“We announced that primaries will be held if there is more than one candidate for one constituency. But since Ameen has withdrawn his name, there is no need for a primary. Ameen mentioned in a letter sent to us that he withdrew his name to avoid conflict,” he said.

Ameen received 81 votes while his rival Adam Shareef received 78 votes.

Waheed also said that there is no evidence to indicate that the election regulation was violated by Ameen or any of his representatives.