Dismal Voter Turnout in Male’ City Mayoral Election

In the recent by-election for the vacant Mayoral seat in the capital of Maldives, the voter turnout was extremely low. There was a total of 5 candidates participating in this election. From the ruling party coalition of PNC/PPM, Dr. Azima Shakoor contested and achieved 5,031 votes. The main opposition to the current government, the Maldivian Democratic Party, fielded Adam Azim who garnered 7,621 votes, and won the election by 2,590 votes over the ruling party’s candidate.

The remaining 4,356 votes were split between two independent candidates and the candidate of The Democrats. Shuaib Ali gained the least number of votes as a true independent candidate, with only 125. Hussain Waheed ran as an independent, but under the banner of former President Yameen’s newly formed People’s National Front, and was able to gather 1,888 votes. Here, President Yameen’s decision to split from the ruling party can be seen in the election results. The effect that this split has had on the election is not dissimilar from the effect of the split in MDP in 2023 as a result of the tension between former President Mohamed Nasheed, and former President Ibrahim Solih.

Finally, The Democrats candidate, Saif Fathih, was able to achieve 2,343 votes in the election, which marks the second time the Democrats have come third in a major election, with the last Democrats candidate coming third in the President Election last year.

This demonstration of the number of votes shows a low number of votes for each candidate. Out of a total eligible population of 54,680 voters, only 17,410 exercised their constitutional right. This is a voter turnout of 31.84%. It is clear from the number of voters in this election that the candidates who have contested did not resonate with their constituents, and ultimately could not encourage a majority of the population to vote in any particular direction. This follows a downward trend in turnout for Male’ city mayoral elections, as in the previous election Dr. Muizzu won the election with a total of 12,470 votes, and a total voter turnout of 41.66% of the total eligible voters.

This shows widespread disinterest in the local council elections from the citizens of Male’. The candidates from all parties were unable to convince undecided voters of their cause.

A multitude of news outlets claimed this to be a resounding victory for the Maldivian Democratic Party, however the statistics show that the margin of victory was very small. Another sensationalized talking point has been that this election result shows the people’s supposed dissatisfaction with the current administration. The voter turnout is, instead, indicative of a general dissatisfaction with the voting system and the candidates on offer in this round of elections.