MDP chair alleges dropping two-round system attempt to commit electoral fraud

Fayyaz Ismail, the chairperson of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), alleged on Monday that the proposal by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to abolishing the current two-round system in presidential elections is an attempt to commit electoral fraud.

President Muizzu had announced the decision to call a public referendum on abolishing the two-round system and adopting a preferential voting system in presidential elections during his Republic Day address earlier this week.

Fayyaz criticized the proposal during a party rally on Monday night.

“…And then he talked about winning the election in a single round through a preferential system. This is another warning signal. The purpose of this is to bring the ballot boxes to Male’ while he remains in power and revert back to the old system of vote rigging,” he said.

Fayyaz alleged that the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) administration was headed towards establishing a “monarchy.” He said that the referendums announced by the administration are part of a “devious plan” to pave the path to this goal.

 In addition to a referendum on adopting a preferential voting system, President Muizzu has also announced plans to hold referendums on reverting the start of presidential terms back to November 11, and holding presidential and parliamentary elections conjointly.

During Monday’s rally, Fayyaz said the incumbent administration was implementing a whole different manifesto than the one presented during the 2023 presidential campaign.

He also challenged the administration to hold the presential elections conjointly with the local council elections scheduled for 2027 “if they want to hold fewer elections to cut spending.”

“If you dare, hold the presidential elections together with the local council elections by pitching that manifesto you are promoting to the people. Give the people another opportunity and test if they say yes to you, or no,” he said.

Fayyaz said that people need to come together to put the government on the “right track.”