The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced the final results of the second round of the presidential election.
The final results show that Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the presidential candidate of opposition People's National Congress (PNC), won with 129,159 votes, which is 54.04% of the total. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the presidential candidate of main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) received 109,868 votes, which is 45.96%. Dr. Muizzu's victory in the second round of the election marked President Solih's first defeat in his 29-year political career.
The second round of the presidential election saw a 87.31% turnout with 246,915 of the 282,804 eligible voters casting their ballot. ECM deemed 7,888 ballots as invalid and stated that it would evaluate the invalid ballots and increase public awareness regarding any identifiable issues.
Additionally, Vice President of ECM Ismail Habeeb highlighted that the presidential election concluded peacefully and praised President Solih for accepting defeat with dignity. He noted that defeated candidates levied accusations against ECM in previous elections and that President Solih showed respect to the electoral process by announcing that has accepted his defeat. He noted that this was a key reason why this year's election concluded peacefully.
Furthermore, ECM stated that the election was conducted peacefully and orderly due to the tireless work of the secretary general, staff and volunteers. The commission thanked the staff and officials involved in the election.