Pres says readying for run-off; hints at coalition
Provisional results show main opposition PPM-PNC's Dr Mohamed Muizz leading the polls with 46%, while President Solih secured 39%.
President Ibrahim Solih has said that he will do his best to form a coalition with other parties for the second round of the presidential election.
Shortly after the provisional results of the election on Saturday were confirmed, the president gave brief answers to reporters outside the Shinetree Building in capital Male, where his official campaign office is located.
Overall, the president said there were "some things that were not understood" before and he would be prepared for the second round, which is scheduled for September 30.
When asked by a journalist whether he would try to win the support of parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed in the second round, the president said he would have to form coalitions with others anyway. Therefore, he will do whatever is necessary to do so, he said.
"I think the PPM will also try [to form a coalition]. We will too. So we will continue to do all that," he said.
When asked how confident he was about a second round, the president said he would start work and think about it on Sunday. Without saying anything more, the president then left the area.
Provisional results show main opposition PPM-PNC's Dr Mohamed Muizz leading the polls with 46%, while President Solih secured 39%.
To win outright, a candidate needs more than 50% of the votes. From the preliminary results, it is certain that a runoff between the top two contenders will take place on September 30.
Six other candidates also participated in Saturday's election.
Ilyas Labeeb, previously a legislator with Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the candidate of The Democrats, secured over 6% of the vote, coming in third. The Democrats is a party founded by former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had a falling out with Solih after losing a fiercely contested presidential primary earlier this year.
A total of 282,395 people were eligible to vote in the election, with approximately 27,000 of them being first-time voters.
The Elections Commission reported that about 79% of eligible voters participated in the election, marking the lowest turnout in recent history for a Maldivian presidential election.
The election outcome holds significance in the battle for influence between India and China in this popular Indian Ocean honeymoon destination.
