Maldives Election

 The Maldives' ruling party holds high-stakes presidential primaries.

Primary elections for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will be held today in preparation for the September 2023 presidential election. Current president Ibrahim Mohammed Solih and parliament speaker Mohammed Nasheed are the two candidates up for election. If they registered with MDP prior to January 18th, almost 57,000 Maldivians are currently registered to vote. On February 3, the results will be made public.

 

The MDP is currently split between the Solih and Nasheed factions, bringing us to this primary. Prior to the primaries, Speaker Nasheed said that President Solih had removed 39,000 of his followers from the MDP voter register. These voters were not listed on the official Elections Committee roll, according to Solih, who disputes this.

 

The fate of Nasheed's political career is in jeopardy.

Nasheed, 55, who has spent his whole life promoting multiparty politics in the Maldives and is regarded as a symbol of democracy, has seen his popularity decline ever since Solih, 60, took office as president in 2018. The MDP's highest decision-making body decided to switch the party's presidential ticket from Nasheed to Solih earlier that year, which sparked a ferocious rivalry between the boyhood friends who are also related by marriage. Party leaders believed Nasheed's exclusion from the race due to a fabricated "terrorist" conviction would leave the MDP without a presidential candidate at the moment.

 

Nasheed, president from 2008 to 2012, was living in exile at the time and had little choice but to accept Solih's candidature.

And then Yameen was soundly defeated by Solih, who had the support of the MDP as well as a confederation of various opposition groups.

Yameen was imprisoned on allegations of money laundering and corruption just months after losing his election.

However, Nasheed became Solih's most vocal detractor.

Nasheed, who was elected as speaker of the parliament in 2019, used his platform to criticize the president for what he claimed was his failure to act on the Maldives' largest-ever corruption scandal, noting that only Yameen had so far been imprisoned for the theft of about $79 million in state funds from tourism leases.

 

He also criticized Solih for allegedly doing nothing to stop violent organizations linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). As hostility increased, family members of Nasheed and Solih publicly declared their allegiances. When the speaker was the target of a bombing in the nation's capital, Male, in May 2021, tensions soon escalated into outright violence.

Nasheed barely made it out alive. The police placed the blame on "extreme" religious organizations, while several of Nasheed's supporters blamed the government as well, blaming lax security.

 

Additionally, he appeared to be going unopposed for the MDP presidential ticket until his estranged friend abruptly declared his intention to run.

The primary is suddenly energized thanks to Nasheed's entry.

Running under the slogan "Revival of a creed," Nasheed has traveled throughout the island nation over the past month, energizing ever-larger audiences with pledges to combat corruption, lower living expenses, and roll back tax increases enacted by Solih's administration. He has also charged Solih with buying votes, restoring authoritarianism, denying the ability to vote to tens of thousands of MDP members, and reinstating the tradition of civilians pleading with legislators and government ministers for public amenities and infrastructure.

 

Nasheed declared during a campaign event on Thursday, "We are the true MDP." "We are attempting to win this election in order to regain our party because we are concerned that this government is pursuing policies that are at odds with our ideology."

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