Nasheed concedes defeat; declines to back Solih
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the primary with 61% of the votes, which is 24,566 votes
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President Mohamed Nasheed on Monday conceded defeat to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in Saturday's presidential primary, but declined to back his old friend turned rival in the September presidential election.
In a message to the party's key WhatsApp groups more than 24 hours after the election results were announced, Nasheed said president Solih won by a "narrow margin".
"If we put aside the rigging of the election, President Solih will lose a lot of the votes he claims to have received. But I think if you look at the voter list that voted, President Solih will win by a narrow margin," Nasheed's message read.
"However, in my view, MDP will not be able to win the 2023 presidential election with President Solih."
Refusing to decide to support President Solih, Nasheed proposed to form party wings in each island under his campaign slogan of Fikuregge Dhirun or 'Revival of an Ideology' and ask 39,000 people who he claims the party had expelled to rejoin the party.
"A presidential candidate supported by the 'Revival of an Ideology' will be decided later. A candidate who agrees to convert to a parliamentary system from a presidential election will be easier to support," he said.
As per the provisional election results:
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President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the primary with 61% of the votes, which is 24,566 votes
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Nasheed received 38.9% of the votes, which is 15,641 votes
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Around 57,000 people are eligible to cast their votes, taking the total voter turnout to 40,887
