The Presidential Elections in the Maldives is scheduled to be held today (23) with around 263,000 Maldivians eligible to vote. Incumbent President Abdulla Yameen is contesting seeking a second tenure under the Progressive Party of Maldives and his main opponent is Maldivian Democratic Party’s Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
In February 2018, former President Mohamed Nasheed announced his plans to contest the elections as the candidate of the Maldivian Democratic Party. But Nasheed later withdrew his candidacy and the party selected Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as its candidate. At previous Presidential elections held in 2013, Yameen won by a narrow margin with the help of the Jumhoori Party (JP) and the Adalath Party (AP). These two parties have later withdrawn their support to Yameen and joined hands with the MDP.
If neither of the contestants were able to win the majority, a second round of the election will be held in 21 days to determine who should be appointed as the President. Meanwhile, two members of Sri Lanka’s National Election Commission departed to Male to take part in monitoring the Maldives Presidential Election, a senior election’s official said.