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Maldives headed for second election round in presidential contest between Solih and Muizzu
Oceania: Maldives
Primer on presidential election in Maldives
(Sept. 9, 2023 - first round; Sept. 30, 2023 - second round)
A presidential election was set to be held in Maldives on Sept. 9, 2023. If no outright winner was produced from that event, a second presidential round was set for Sept. 30, 2023.
The previous elections were held on Sept. 23, 2018 and won by Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The incumbent president was seeking re-election although he would first have to secure victory in the primary election of the China-skeptical Maldivian Democratic Party. The winner of that primary would contest the presidential election against candidate of opposition parties, including Progressive Party of Maldives and the Maldives National Party.
In January 2023, the primary election was held in Maldives pitting incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih against the incumbent speaker of the People's Majlis Mohamed Nasheed, who had himself served as president and was the country's first democratically-elected leader. At the end of the primary election it was the President Solih who secured victory and was thus on track to contest the general election in September 2023.
Other candidates who said they would contest the presidential election against President Solih included Abdulla Yameen, former president and leader of Progressive Party of Maldives.
Yameen’s candidacy would ultimately prove to be untenable due to the fact that he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption and money laundering. At issue was a scandal involving the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation. Because Yameen was thus deemed ineligible to appear on the election ballot, the Progressive Party of Maldives chose its vice president, Mohamed Muizzu, to be its nominee.
Other presidential candidates included, Mohamed Nazim, a former cabinet minister and leader of Maldives National Party, Ilyas Labeeb of the newly formed party, The Democrats, as well as a candidate for the Jumhooree Party.
A handful of independent candidates such as Umar Naseer, Hassan Zameel, and Ahmed Faris Maumoon, the son of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, would also be contesting the presidential election.
In the first round of the election on Sept. 9, 2023, no one candidate secured over 50 percent of the vote share and an absolute majority. Accordingly, the election would go to a second round on Sept. 30, 2023. The two top finishers — incumbent President Solih and Muizzu — would be in the run-off.
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