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Ruling party admits defeat in Local Council Elections

Fathmath Shaahunaz
09 May 2017, MVT 14:05
MP Nihan speaking at a press conference. PHOTO:Nishan Ali/Mihaaru
Fathmath Shaahunaz
09 May 2017, MVT 14:05

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s parliamentary group leader and Villimale MP Ahmed Nihan admitted Tuesday that the ruling party has lost the Local Council Elections 2017.

In a tweet posted after the Elections Commission began announcing the temporary results of the elections, MP Nihan vowed that PPM will clarify the reasons for losing the majority of council seats, and make the necessary improvements to claim victory again.

When the media first commenced broadcasting the released results of ballot boxes after the elections ended Saturday, PPM originally proclaimed that the ruling coalition of PPM, Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) had won the majority of seats and that the results were “a satisfactory victory”. However, most of the ballot boxes had not been counted at the time.

According to the results known so far, main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) currently holds the super majority of the three main city councils with 12 out of 13 seats of Male City, two seats out of three from Fuvahmulah City and all the seats of Addu City. PPM won only two of the city council seats including the Villimale constituency that MP Nihan represents.

MP Nihan described the Local Council Elections as a semi-final round and that PPM and MDP will proceed to the final match next year, referring to the Presidential Elections 2018.

In another tweet, Nihan declared that PPM members still wield the energy and willpower to win the presidential elections. He added that the ruling party will succeed that election in the first round with God’s will.

Speaking at PPM’s last press conference, MP Nihan had also noted that support for PPM is lacking in islands with large populations such as capital Male and Addu City. He vowed that PPM will determine the reasons behind the low numbers of people that vote in elections and work to raise more awareness among the citizens.

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