Commonwealth calls for increased voter education; urges everyone to vote

The Commonwealth on Monday called for as many people as possible to exercise their right to vote, saying public awareness is needed to increase voter turnout in the Maldives' presidential election.

Eleven Commonwealth officials were deployed to observe the first round of voting in Saturday's presidential election. The group shared its findings on the election at a press conference on Monday.

At the press conference, Commonwealth Observation Group Chairman, former Seychelles President Danny Faure, praised the Elections Commission for the good election arrangements. He also praised the people's cooperation in conducting a peaceful election.

However, he said he believes that voting awareness should be increased and the work should be expanded. Faure said voter education is needed in order to address issues such as the high number of invalid votes in some boxes and historically low voter turnout. 

Noting the low turnout in this election compared to other elections, Faure said the media and political parties should play a leading role in raising awareness among the people.

"When I met with various parties, they also mentioned that awareness needs to be raised. If that is done, I believe the problem can be resolved," Faure said.

Faure concluded the press conference by urging every citizen to exercise their constitutional right to vote in the second round of elections.

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

The Democrats candidate, Ilyas Labeeb, who defected from MDP with Nasheed and formed the youngest political party in the country, got about 15,000 votes in Saturday’s polls. The support of Nasheed and The Democrats will be crucial for President Solih in the second round.