Opposition MDP's Azim wins Male mayorship
Ruling PNC's Aisha Azima Shakoor is trailing the opposition MDP candidate by a margin of over 1,000 votes.
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Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) Adam Azim has won Saturday's by-election to elect a candidate for the vacant Male mayor post.
Polling in the by-election took place from 8 am to 5 pm at 55 polling stations. Only some 17,000 out of the 54,680 eligible voters cast their ballots in the by-election, according to the Elections Commission.
According to provisional results from state media PSM and Raajje TV, the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) mayoral candidate Aisha Azima Shakoor is trailing the opposition MDP candidate by a margin of 1,300 votes.
According to PSM's provisional results:
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Azim - 3,529 votes (46%)
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Azima - 2,167 votes (27%)
Raajje TV's provisional results:
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Azim - 5,152 votes
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Azima - 3,220 votes
According to Raajje TV's provisional results, Azim is leading by a margin of about 2,000 votes. Therefore, there is no chance of any other candidate beating Azim even if the results of the remaining boxes are in.
Other candidates and their vote count:
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Saif Fatih, The Democrats - 1,507 votes
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Hussain Waheed, Independent (contested with backing from former President Abdulla Yameen) - 1,179 votes
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Shuaib Ali, Independent - 78 votes
In addition to the mayorship, which became vacant when Dr Mohamed Muizzu won the September presidential election and took the oath of office in November, councillors will be elected to three seats of the Male City Council which became vacant when they quit to join the new government. The seats are:
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Maafannu South
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Central Henveiru
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Henveiru South
