Former Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed (Andey) stated last night that if the Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election are held on the same day, it would benefit politicians.
He stated this at a discussion held by policymv regarding the outcome of the combining of the elections and to share both sides on the matter.
He went on to say that if both elections are held on the same day, politicians would only have to spend once on the citizens instead of twice.
"As an example, all political parties except two that are active in Maldives are in favor of this. Because they stand to benefit from this," said Ahmed.
He is of the opinion that there are no economic benefits in the combining of the elections.
"There is no benefit to our peace," said Ahmed.
While referring to the Elections Commission's (EC) statistics, he stated that the state only spent MVR 85 million on the two rounds of the 2023 Presidential Election. Ahmed said that with the inclusion of the 2024 Parliamentary Election, MVR 147 million was spent on both elections.
"This is less than 0.5 percent of the approved 2026 budget. Is this the amount we really need for us to be saved and for major projects to be run?", said Ahmed.
"If we take the population into account, if MVR 146 is given to per person out of 400,000 people, MVR 386 would need to be given out. Are we really saying that the price of democracy is that high?"
According to the statistics that Ahmed was referring to, if the cost of the two rounds of the 2023 Presidential Election and the 2024 Parliamentary Election were split between every Maldivian citizen over the course of five years, the cost comes up to MVR 74.20 per person.
Ahmed said that countries such as Seychelles hold two elections on the same day and that expenses are low only by a quarter of both the elections, as the research had shown.
"A quarter of 147 million is around MVR 40 million. If it is split over the course of five years, that is only MVR 8 million. Only five cents are being saved per Maldivian citizen," said Ahmed.
