The Elections Commission of Maldives (EC) has announced today that there were no major issues reported from Sunday's parliamentary elections, which saw citizens vote in 93 candidates into the 20th People's Majlis.
The Elections Commission of Maldives (EC) has announced today that there were no major issues reported from Sunday's parliamentary election, which saw citizens vote in a new batch of lawmakers for the 20th People's Majlis.
EC Member Hassan Zakariyya told "Mihaaru" news that there had been no reports of major problems with yesterday's parliamentary election.
Three people were arrested in relation to their conduct at polling stations around the country as voting progressed on Monday. Maldives Police Service (MPS) arrested a man for attempting to compromise the secrecy of his ballot during the vote in Malé City. Two others were detained for disrupting the peace at the polling station in GDh. Fiyoaree. All three persons have been released from custody as of Sunday evening.
EC Member Hassan also revealed that the voter turnout during yesterday's parliamentary election was much lower than the turnout reported during the presidential elections held in 2023.
The presidential elections concluded after two rounds of voting last year, with 85 percent of the total eligible voting population turning up to cast their ballots during the second round. However, this year's parliamentary elections saw a much lower turnout, with only 75 percent of total eligible voters choosing to cast their ballots during the election held on Sunday. Over 215,000 citizens cast their votes out of a total eligible population that exceeded 284,000 people.
"Even so, this is almost the same turnout as we have seen for other parliamentary elections," said Hassan.
Statistics from the first parliamentary elections held in Maldives following the ratification of the new constitution in 2009 show that 78 percent of the total eligible population cast their votes. In the 2014 parliament elections, 77 percent of the eligible population voted, followed by a voter turnout of 81 percent during the 2019 Majlis Elections.
According to the provisional results of yesterday's parliamentary elections, the government could secure more than 70 seats with the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) / People's National Congress (PNC) and affiliated candidates. The largest opposition in the country, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is projected to win only 12 seats.
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