Proposing preferential system to elect leader, president says

President Mohamed Muizzu on Sunday reaffirmed his support for changing the presidential election process in the Maldives to a single-round system based on preferential voting.

President Muizzu had previously stated his intention to move away from the current two-round electoral system used to elect the President. The proposal under consideration is to adopt a preferential voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.

There is speculation that the government is planning to hold a public vote on the matter later this year. The President has sought cooperation from Members of Parliament, while government supporters have initiated a campaign on social media in favour of the change.

In a message shared in the President’s official WhatsApp group, which is accessible to the public, it was stated that the President supports what he described as a “free voting” system.

Preferential voting systems are used in several democratic countries. Under such a system, voters rank the candidates by preference — marking '1' for their most preferred candidate, '2' for the next, and so on.

If a candidate receives over 50 percent of the '1' rankings, they are elected. If no candidate secures that majority, the candidate with the fewest top rankings is eliminated. The second-choice votes of that candidate’s supporters are then redistributed. This process continues until one candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has also expressed support for a one-round presidential election through preferential voting.

However, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has publicly opposed the proposal. He argued that the move could suppress public participation under the pretext of electoral reform.

The government has not yet confirmed the date for a public vote on the proposal.