Despite party backing, Gasim, Nazim fail to garner support

Provisional results of Saturday's presidential election have shown that the Jumhoory Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim and the Maldives National Party (MNP) President Mohamed Nazim did not receive nearly as many votes as their own party members.

According to the provisional results of the election:

Gasim's JP has more than 22,600 members, according to Elections Commission figures. Therefore, the provisional results show that Gasim did not get the votes of 17,000 JP members.

Gasim's JP is one of the five parties funded by the state budget for member counts exceeding 10,000. Gasim, who has won third place in both previous presidential elections, finished fifth with about 5,000 votes. That is a lower result than former home minister Umar Naseer, who contested this election as an independent candidate.

Votes Gasim received in the previous presidential election:

Nazim's MNP, which was formed in mid-2021 for the presidential election, has 9,800 members, according to the Elections Commission. Therefore, Nazim did not get the votes of 8,000 of his own MNP members.

A total of eight candidates contested the election. Before forming the MNP, Nazim was a member of Gasim's JP. Nazim was elected to the Dangethi parliamentary sea on the JP ticket.

Gasim and Nazim did not get nearly as many votes as their own party members, while former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) president Faris Maumoon received more than 3,000 votes. Maumoon's son Faris contested the election as an independent candidate.

Provisional results show main opposition PPM-PNC's Dr Mohamed Muizz leading the polls with 46%, while President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih secured 39%.