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Sunday 12 Jan 2025
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
The hotly contested parliamentary by-elections for Thimarafushi and Kaashidhoo constituencies have begun today morning, at 8 o’clock. Together with these parliamentary by-elections, by-elections for H.Dh. Kumundhoo and Th. Gaadhiffushi Councils are also being conducted.
Parliamentary by-elections are being conducted following the seats of Thimarafushi and Kaashidhoo becoming vacant months earlier, after Court orders resulted MPs representing these constituencies lose their seats.
Reports have told that minor issues have surfaced in both Thimarafushi and Kaashidhoo. For one, there was a minor confrontation among voters queued to vote in Kaashidhoo, and complaints were filed with the Elections Commission saying that old voters were not allowed to take assisters with them to the voting booth, in Guraidhoo, an island in the Kaashidhoo constituency. However, this issue was dealt with by the Commission.
There are 2231 eligible voters in Kaashidhoo Constituency, and 316 out of them are residing in Malé. In Thimarafushi constituency, eligible voters’ list shows 3616 people, and 1802 people are in Malé. The Elections Commission has made arrangements for those in Malé as well.
Updates to come as elections progress.
Attack on the Council Building
11:00 - A glass window at Thimarafushi Council Office was broken, while a group of people was trying to enter the Office. The Maldives Police Service said that some people tried to enter the Office to meet an official of the Elections Commission in the Office, and that someone threw something at the Office in the heat of the moment, which hit the window.
Around 12:30, there was a confrontation at Guraidhoo, an island in the Thimarafushi Constituency, following which the Maldives Police Service arrested 5 people. They were transported to the nearby island of Vaymandoo. According to reports, among those arrested were some from Thimarafushi, and some who had gone there from Malé.
Reports also say that the confrontation was followed by angry individuals from Thimarafushi attacking the Council Office at Guraidhoo, breaking a window at the office building. Those who attacked the Council were claiming that a group of persons from Thimarafushi were attacked in Guraidhoo.
12:58 – President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik visited Th. Vilufushi, where there were minor clashes between supporters of the Government and oppotents. Regarding the incident, Abbas Adil Riza, the Spokesperson of the President said that there was no confrontation, and that supporters of the Government and supporters of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) were merely expressing their sentiments. He also said that the President was attending a meeting at Vilufushi School.
15:44 – By 2:15 in the afternoon, 4913 out of 6764 registered voters had voted, constituting a turnout of 73%.
15:50 – The Elections Commission announced that preliminary results of the by-elections would come out between 8 and 9 pm tonight. Ahmed Fayaz Hassan, the Deputy President of the Elections Commission said that closing time was set at 4 o’clock. He said that anyone in queue at that time would be given chance to vote. He also said that counting would begin about a half-an-hour break after closing ballot boxes, and that each box would be counted at the location where it is kept. He said that the preliminary results of the whole constituency would be announced at the Elections Commission.
16:00 – Elections Commission of the Maldives has said that 90% of eligible voters would turn out in the four by-elections conducted today.
16:03 – Ballot box for Th. Gaadiffushi Council by-election has been closed.
16:04 – Two ballot boxes at Kaashidhoo, for parliamentary by-election have been closed.
16:04 – One of the two ballot boxes at Gaafaru, for parliamentary by-election, has been closed, and the other is not yet closed, as there are two persons in the queue.
16:29 – Fuad Qasim, President of the Elections Commission has said that the by-election was conducted smoothly, and that the Commission was satisfied as to how everything went. He said that there was only one complaint about voters’ registration. He extended thanks to the officials at islands for their cooperation.
16:39 – All ballot boxes have been closed, and vote counting begun. The number of voters for each ballot box has been announced as follows:
Ballot box at H.DH. and K. Malé 1 – 402
Th. Atoll Malé 2 – 650
Th. Atoll Malé 1 – 589
Th. Thimarafushi 2 – 469
Th. Thimarafushi 1 – 428
Th. Gaadiffushi 1 – 204
Th. Guraidhoo 2 – 419
Th. Guraidhoo 1 – 631
K. Gaafaru 1 – 651
K. Kaashidhoo 2 – 482
K. Kaashidhoo 1 – 625
H.Dh. Kumundhoo 1 – 463
16:44 – As vote counting began in all locations, the Maldives Police Service came to alert, and have been patrolling near all locations, prepared for any chaos.
17:08 – Preliminary results of ballot boxes started coming. So far, the following results have been announced by the Elections Commission.
Ballot box 1 at Thimarafushi School (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 217
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 208
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 0
Spoilt Votes: 3
Total voters: 428
Registered voters: 527
Kaashidhoo Ballot Box Number 2 (parliamentary by-election):
Abdulla Jabir: 270
Ahmed Haleem: 204
Mohamed Afeef: 5
Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim: 3
Spoilt votes: 3
Gaadiffushi Council by-Election:
Hussain Ziyau (PPM): 98
Mohamed Irushaad (MDP): 102
Ballot box 2 at Thimarafushi School (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 289
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 177
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 0
Spoilt Votes: 3
Total voters: 469
Registered voters: 620
Kaashidhoo Ballot Box 2 in Malé (parliamentary by-election):
Abdulla Jabir: 158
Mohamed Afeef: 1
Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim: 4
Ahmed Haleem: 139
Spoilt votes: 0
Total voters: 465
Registered voters: 539
Gaadiffushi (Thimarafushi Constituency) Ballot Box 1(parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 103
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 98
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 0
Spoilt votes: 3
Total voters: 204
Registered voters: 232
Thimarafushi Constituency (Male, Iskandar School) Ballot Box 1 (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 292
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 284
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 1
Spoilt votes: 12
Total voters: 589
Registered voters: 627
Thimarafushi (Guraidhoo) Ballot Box 1 (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 72
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 286
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 1
Spoilt votes: 2
Total voters: 361
Registered voters: 446
Thimarafushi Constituency (Gaadiffushi/Guraidhoo in Male) Ballot Box (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 268
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 375
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 1
Spoilt votes: 6
Total voters: 650
Registered voters: 675
Kaashidhoo Constituency (Kaashidhoo) Ballot Box 1(Parliamentary by-election):
Abdullah Jabir: 289
Mohamed Afeef: 1
Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim: 1
Ahmed Haleem: 326
Spoilt votes: 8
Total voters: 325
Registered voters: 687
Kaashidhoo Constituency (Kaashidhoo) Ballot Box 2 (Parliamentary by-election):
Abdullah Jabir: 270
Mohamed Afeef: 5
Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim: 2
Ahmed Haleem: 204
Spoilt votes: 3
Total voters: 482
Registered voters: 539
Thimarafushi Constituency (Guraidhoo) Ballot Box 2 (parliamentary by-election):
Mohamed Mustafa: 86
Ahmed Shareef Adam: 327
Abdul Rasheed Abdullah: 0
Spoilt votes: 6
Total voters: 419
Registered voters: 488
Kaashidhoo Constituency (Kaashidhoo/Gaafaru) Ballot Box 1 (Parliamentary by-election):
Abdullah Jabir: 390
Mohamed Afeef: 0
Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim: 1
Ahmed Haleem: 250
Spoilt votes: 10
Total voters: 651
Registered voters: 689
Based on the above results, the parliamentary by-elections for both Kaashidhoo Constituency and Thimarafushi Constituency have been won by the candidates supporting the Government of current President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik. In both these constituencies, candidates representing the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) lead by former President Mohamed Nasheed have been defeated.
However, it has to be noted that these are preliminary results. The Elections Commission has said that final results would be announced between 8 and 9 pm tonight.
In the Kaashidhoo Constituency by-election, Abdullah Jabir, representing the Jumhoory Party, won 1107 votes, while MDP candidate Ahmed Haleem could collect 919 votes.
Thimarafushi Constituency has been won by Ahmed Shareef by 1755 votes to 1327 votes won by MDP candidate Mohamed Mustafa. Mohamed Mustafa was representing the Constituency in Parliament, until he lost his seat due to a ruling of the Supreme Court a couple of months ago.
18:56 – Defeated candidate Mohamed Musthafa has said that he did not believe the results of the parliamentary by-election for Thimarafushi Constituency. He said that “there are some problems with the ballot boxes of Guraidhoo”.
19:05 – Ahmed Shareef, PPM member who won parliamentary by-election for Thimarafushi Constituency and parliamentarians and supporters of PPM in Thimarafushi have left for Guraidhoo. A special party to celebrate the win at the election would be conducted at Guraidhoo tonight.
19:19: Preliminary results for H.Dh. Kumundhoo Island Council by-election are announced, and votes were distributed as follows:
Mohamed Shaafy (PPM): 257
Aishath Hassan (MDP): 164
Abdul Hakeem (DRP) 123
Spoilt votes: 19
Total votes: 563
19:33 – Officials of the Elections Commission in Thimarafushi have left the island with ballot boxes to the nearby island of Veymandoo. The officials said that the move was not for any particular reasons. However, reports say that ballot boxes were moved out of Thimarafushi as alarms of chaos were raised. Meanwhile, the police are on duty at Thimarafushi.
20:03 - Preliminary results for Th. Gaadiffushi Island Council by-election are announced, and votes were distributed as follows:
Hussain Ziyau (PPM): 98
Mohamed Irshad: 102
