In September 2023, Mayor of Male' City got elected as President.
When President Dr Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in, the mayoral seat became vacant, prompting wide campaigning from major political parties, as well as a few independents, for the position.
This Saturday, January 13, Male' will be holding a by-election to get itself a new mayor. With five contesting candidates, and three of them being close competitors, who will be elected remains a question that will be answered only on the day of.
The ruling coalition People's National Congress (PNC) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) granted its mayoral ticket to Azima Shakoor, former Attorney General.
Azima has filled ministerial positions in three different administrations. With her vast experience of around thirty years, Azima comes forward today as a mayoral candidate promising to work with the incumbent government to fulfill the pledges made to the public.
While she maintains that Male' has an abundant number of issues that need to be addressed, and fast, her main focus is on overhauling what she describes as the failed governance system or administrative framework. She believes that this is the root of many of the problems faced by Male' residents today.
Azima further highlights the many obstacles to development that arose due to previous conflicts between the city council and the government of the time.
Azima believes that in electing her as mayor, Male' residents will get a mayor who works alongside the government to ensure that President Dr Muizzu's strategic action plan is brought into fruition.
"I will remain alongside the President. To implement the manifesto for the entire country. Grant me this opportunity, and I will show you the difference. We are a committed team," she said in an exclusive interview with Mihaaru News.
Main opposition party Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate Adam Azim comes with a proven record of being able to get things done.
In his recent post as the CEO of MTCC, Azim showed the nation his initiative and reliability in implementing public services that have been much awaited by the public, earning widespread trust in the process.
Azim has also previously served as the Managing Director of STO and also at MWSC. While serving in these positions, he played a key role in establishing pharmacies in all inhabited islands and in solving the issue of Male' street flooding at the time.
Azim claims that if elected as Mayor, he plans to "transform the entire Male' City, making it a beautiful, blooming garden".
Azim's pledges include making Male' streets more accessible and easier to use, provide solutions to parking woes, as well as leaky air conditioner units facing many street pavements. He claims that upon election, he will commence work to develop the areas in the Greater Male' region where new land and housing units have been provided.
The Democrat's candidate is Saif Fathih (Aeko). He is currently serving as a council member in the Male' City Council, and as such comes forward with a wealth of knowledge about the problems faced by Male' residents, together with a number of proposals to solve them.
Saif has decided to run for Male' Mayor on The Democrats ticket to ensure the residents of Male' no longer have to continue voicing the same old, age old complaints. He said that he aims to not allow people to build castles in the sky just with the intention of gaining votes every election cycle.
"Has any work been done so far to provide solutions for the residents of Male'? Have any such policies been implemented? Solutions won't come about if one just sits back and keeps on discussing how a problem is getting bigger everyday," Saif said in an exclusive interview with Mihaaru News.
Saif said that he had decided to run for mayor after first having listed down the problems and their solutions. He stated that how he plans to implement this, the required budget, as well as the timeline is clearly laid out in his manifesto. His pledges include bringing modern changes to Hulhumale' and Villimale', as well as providing council housing as a solution to the housing crisis faced by residents.
Saif pledges to build parks and arenas with security to ensure safety of public spaces. He further said he would introduce council sponsored Quran classes in the mosques.
"I have the solutions. This is the time now for me to start that work. This island won't see solutions by letting things go on as they have in days past."
In addition to the three candidates from the main political parties, two are running independently.
Hussain Waheed, former Commissioner of Police, is running for the post with a promise of maintaining integrity and transparency. At the time of announcing his candidacy, he was filling the position of CEO at Channel 13. He previously served as a State Minister at the Youth Ministry.
"We cannot be bought, not for any price" his campaign posts state loudly on social media. He also promises to empower women's development committees, as well as support small and medium enterprises.
The other independent candidate is Shuaib Ali. Shuaib is known as a long serving member of the MDP. Having been active since the formation of the party, he parted ways with MDP during the rifts that arose within them in 2023.
The by-elections will also include seats for other Male' City Council seats. As per the EC four candidates will be contesting for the South Henveiru constituency seat, and five candidates each will be contesting for the Central Henveiru and South Maafannu seats.
Also on Saturday, EC will be conducting a by-election in Meemu Atoll Mulah to elect the island's Women's Development Committee (WDC).
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