The Democrats' Presidential candidate, Hussain Amru, expressed skepticism if the results of the internal elections were not announced within 24 hours after the polls closed.
Voting occurred from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday to select individuals for various positions within The Democrats, established last July with the backing of former President Mohamed Nasheed.
While positions across the party were contested, the focal point of competition within The Democrats centered around the role of party President.
In addition to Amru, former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairman and West Henveiru MP Hassan Lateef contended for the post.
Although provisional results were anticipated to be promptly disclosed, a message to The Democrats' media group, sent by a senior party member at around 9:45 p.m. last evening, said that the announcement of provisional results had been delayed for today.
Criticism arose, deeming it late to announce the results of an election involving approximately 6,000 voters. However, over 200,000 voters participated in the presidential election, with the winner being declared on the same evening.
Expressing concern, Amru told Mihaaru News that all votes had been tallied by 6 p.m. He refrained from disclosing the specific vote count and turnout due to a conflict of interest but expressed worry over the delayed public release of results.
Although the party has yet to officially declare the results, both Hassan and Amru proclaimed victory.
Amru said that he had stationed observers at the ballot boxes and claimed to be leading in the results. Party officials were assigned to each polling station, recording results on a sheet.
"A long time has passed since the voting. It's harder for me now because it's too late. I have concerns," Amru said.
When asked if there was any doubts about the results when it was so late, he did not give a direct answer. We can only say there is no doubts about the results once it has been revealed," he said.
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