President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has underscored the importance of the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) forming a coalition to secure his victory in the second round of the presidential election.
The Maldives held its presidential election on Saturday, with eight candidates contesting for the presidency. According to provisional results, President Solih secured 84,805 votes, constituting 39.04 percent of the total vote share, while PNC candidate Muizzu received 100,342 votes, representing 46.19 percent. While the top two contenders failed to receive 50 percent of the votes necessary for a single-round victory, they will compete head-to-head in the second round.
Speaking to reporters following the confirmation of a second round of voting, President Solih acknowledged the presence of unforeseen factors in the election results and stated that his party would take these factors into consideration for the second round.
“Either way, we have to ally with others,” he said.
The incumbent president expressed his belief that the rival PPM-PNC would also seek to establish a coalition, and he assured that his party would do the same and do what was necessary to forge alliances.
When asked by reporters whether he would try to win the support of Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, who defected from MDP to form a new party ahead of the elections, in the second round of the presidential election, President Solih did not give a direct response.
Meanwhile, the Democrats' presidential candidate Ilyas Labeeb received 15,191 votes (6.99 percent), while independent candidate Umar Naseer received 6,135 votes (2.82 percent). JP presidential candidate Qasim Ibrahim received 5,541 votes (2.55 percent), while independent candidate Ahmed Faris Maumoon received 3,097 votes (1.43 percent). MNP presidential candidate Mohamed Nazim and independent candidate Hassan Zameel came out at the bottom, with Nazim receiving 1795 votes (0.83 percent) and Zameel receiving 325 votes (0.15 percent).
The second round of voting will be held on September 30.
