Final results of the runoff announced with no changes to preliminary results

Elections Commission (EC) has announced the final results of the presidential runoff held last Saturday.

While the final results were announced during a press conference on Wednesday night; no changes were recorded to the preliminary results announced earlier.

As per the final results, opposition PPM-PNC coalition’s Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who won the runoff, received 129,159 votes, amounting to 54.04 percent of the total votes. Meanwhile, MDP’s President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih received 109,868 votes, amounting to 45.96 percent of the total votes.

A total of 245,915 people voted in the runoff, amounting to 87 percent of eligible voters.

239,027 votes were valid, while 7,888 votes were invalid.

Speaking regarding the runoff, EC’s Vice Chairperson Ismail Habeeb said the election was deemed the most perfect election held to date in the Maldives by foreign organizations, observers and Maldivian citizens.

“All gratitude is deserved for the beloved Maldivian citizens,” Habeeb remarked in light of the praise that has been targeted towards EC and its members.

The first round of the presidential election saw eight candidates go head-to-head. However, none of them managed to secure 50 percent, required to win the election outright.

PPM-PNC’s Muizzu led the polls in the first round as well with 46 percent of the votes. President Solih came in second with 39 percent of the votes. The Democrats’ candidate Ilyas Labeeb came in third.

As president-elect, Muizzu is presently undertaking efforts to plan the government he will be incepting. Committees have been constituted by both the current administration and Muizzu as the transition period unfolds to ensure the smooth transfer of power.