Aiman says parliamentary majorities don't reflect vote share

Human rights advocate and electoral systems researcher Aiman Rasheed has stated that large majorities in Parliament do not reflect the share of votes received by political parties.

He made the remarks on Sunday night at a forum titled ‘1+1 For What?’ held at Meeruma Hall. The forum focused on public views on holding presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day.

Referring to recent parliamentary elections, Aiman said the Maldivian Democratic Party received 46.8% of votes in 2019, while the People’s National Congress received 47.5% in 2024.

He said these figures do not correspond with the composition of the People’s Majlis.

“It is incorrect to assume that a parliamentary majority reflects a similar level of public support. The distribution of seats does not match the total votes cast,” he said.

Under the current electoral system, seats are awarded to candidates who receive the highest number of votes in each constituency.

Aiman noted that in multi-candidate contests, a candidate may win with a minority share of votes.

He said the system allows a party to secure a majority of seats without receiving a majority of the national vote.

“As long as the first-past-the-post system remains, it is possible for a party to secure all seats with a limited share of votes,” he said.

He added that changing the timing of elections would not address this issue.

Aiman referred to alternative systems used in other countries, including mixed-member proportional representation, where voters select both a candidate and a party.

He also noted that seat allocation could be based on the total percentage of votes received by each party.

He said changes to the electoral system would be required to align parliamentary representation with vote share.