Rozaina and Shareef suffer defeat in MDP primary

Addu Meedhoo MP Rozaina Adam, who is currently serving in the Parliament for the third consecutive term, suffered a heavily defeat on Saturday, in the primary held by the main opposition MDP for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Rozaina had run in the primary for the North Feydhoo seat. But initial results from ballot boxes in both Male’ and Addu show Ahmed Shareef won the district's ticket with 251 votes. Rozaina won 221, while Ahmed Hamza won 206.

Another incumbent MP who lost in the primary is Kelaa MP Ibrahim Shareef.

MDP held primaries for 40 electoral districts.

25,325 people were eligible to vote in the election.

The party kept ballot boxes in 95 islands, including 26 in the greater Male’ area.

Over 40 of the party’s candidates have already secured tickets, either because they had run unopposed or because other candidates withdrew their name.

This includes several incumbent MPs, including Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem, Makunudhoo MP Mohamed Raee, Hinnavaru MP Jeehan Mahmood, Dhaandhoo MP Yauqoob Abdulla, South Galolhu MP Ahmed Meekail Naseem, and South Henveiru MP Hussain Shaheem.

MDP had achieved a sweeping victory in the 2019 elections, securing a supermajority in the Parliament after winning 65 out of 87 seats.

But the party lost the recent presidential elections to the PPM-PNC, and needs to win big in this year’s parliamentary elections in order to maintain its political clout.