Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb has won the primaries held by The Democrats to determine their candidate for the presidential elections. With more than 3000 votes, Ilyas won the primaries by securing 94.94 percent of the votes on Friday, July 28.
MP Ilyas was the sole individual who applied to contest the primaries held by The Democrats.
The internal rules of the party states that a vote must be conducted, even if only one individual contests the presidential primary. To become the party's presidential candidate, the contestant is required to secure at least 10 percent of the votes officially become the presidential candidate representing The Democrats in the upcoming elections.
According to the provisional results, a total of 3208 people cast their votes in The Democrats' presidential primaries held across the Maldives. Out of these votes, 3041 were in favor of MP Ilyas as the presidential candidate, while 153 people voted against him. Additionally, nine votes were deemed invalid.
Hassan Latheef, the Interim Chairperson of The Democrats, had previously announced that their presidential primaries would be conducted across all regions of the Maldives, with voting available to members across the globe. The party implemented an online voting mechanism to facilitate voting from different locations. On the day of the election, individuals who signed up to become members of The Democrats were also granted the opportunity to cast their votes.
The Democrats was established by close associates of former leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and former President Mohamed Nasheed. The party's formation stemmed from differences in opinion between the parties leaders, incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Nasheed. As a result of these differences, The Democrats emerged as a separate political entity officially registered with the Elections Commission.
MP Ilyas Labeeb, who has been elected as the presidential candidate of The Democrats, is a a close associate of Nasheed.
Sign In