Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) on Sunday mocked main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) over the latter's criticism of the country's electoral watchdog.
MDP had continued to question the elections commission's ability to hold a free and fair elections leading up to and during the local council elections on Saturday. The opposition had also flagged major concerns during the elections casting doubt over the outcome of the elections.
Speaking during a press conference on Sunday, chief government lawmaker Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik said favourable results had hushed the opposition.
"Now you can't hear any complaints as suddenly elections commission is independent. The elections is also now free and fair. It means only one thing. Everything needs to be in their [opposition] favour. They expect to commit crimes and get away scot-free without as much as a question from police," the Villi-Maafannu MP said.
"They want to have their own way in everything. Then state institutions, judiciary and security forces would suddenly be independent [for them]."
During the press conference, PPM too had claimed to have secured the majority seats in the local council elections after the opposition had claimed the same hours earlier.
The confusion seems to stem from the contrasting preliminary results reported by state broadcaster Public Service Media (PSM) and opposition aligned Raajje TV.
Speaking to reporters just past midnight on Saturday, MDP chairperson Hassan Latheef said over 65 percent of the seats have already been assured for the opposition.
With nearly a quarter of ballot boxes to be counted, PSM results indicate majority seats to the ruling coalition while Raajje TV shows an overwhelming majority to the now united opposition.
Speaking during a press conference on Sunday, PPM deputy leader and tourism minister Moosa Zameer quoted numbers from PSM to claim an overall victory in the third edition of the local council elections.
Zameer however admitted the embarrassing defeat the ruling party had suffered in the largest population areas.
MDP had swept the much coveted city councils where the ruling coalition had only managed one seat out of the 22 across three city councils.
The tourism minister however noted the extremely low voter turnout in the capital Male as a major concern for all political parties.
A total of 1,487 candidates had contested the elections for 664 seats including 563 councilors to 179 island councils, 67 councilors to 18 atoll councils and 23 councilors to three city councils.
Though 255,987 Maldivians were eligible to vote, voter turnout was reportedly much lower than expected despite the elections commission extending voting by two hours.
Zameer further pointed out the deep rift in the party following the fall out between party founder Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and half brother president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom ahead of the elections had impeded preparations.
The former president Gayoom who has since been axed from the party had penned a historic treaty with other opposition leaders including arch nemesis former president Mohamed Nasheed.
Nihan also hailed the elections as a major boost for the party ahead of the presidential elections in 2018 saying that the results had emphatically answered question marks over the elections commission's ability to hold a free and fair elections.
"This is what true democracy is all about. You win seats and you lose seats. But for the opposition to claim victory is baseless and premature when we have numbers which show that we have won majority seats," the Villi-Maafannu MP said quoting results from PSM news.
The PPM parliamentary group leader also denied rumoured backlash over the outcome of the elections, insisting that the results from individual constituencies would have no bearing on the government's planned infrastructure projects.
The elections had largely been incident free with the elections commission confirming that no major complaints had been received.
Originally slated for January 14 the council elections had been delayed thrice, first ordered by the civil court over the rift in the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and twice by the elections commission.
After rescheduling the polls for April 8 after the court ruling, the commission postponed the polls again to April 15, claiming that public schools were unavailable to accommodate polling stations at an earlier date before delaying it for the third time to May 6 after the swine flu outbreak.
Compared to the more illustrious parliamentary and presidential elections, the council elections in the past have been considered less significant to the political parties in the Maldives since the decentralized system was introduced in 2009.
However, the elections comes amid an intense showdown between the government and the now opposition parties as both sides urging the people to come out in numbers to declare their support through the vote.
