Candidates of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won Saturday’s by-elections for two vacant seats of the Shaviyani atoll council and one seat of the Alif Alif Mathiveri island council.
According to provisional results announced by the Elections Commission (EC) last night, MDP candidates Abdulla Athif and Firaq Ibrahim won the two atoll council seats of Shaviyani Milandhoo constituency with 1,038 votes and 977 votes respectively.
Both Athif and Firaq were elected to the atoll council in the February 2011 elections but were dismissed by a resolution for ostensibly not attending seven consecutive council meetings.
In the Milandhoo constituency, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Moosa Hussein Fulhu received 705 votes while Independent candidate Ahmed Rasheed got 619 votes.
Meanwhile in Alif Alif Mathiveri, MDP candidate Ismail Athif placed first with 253 votes followed by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) candidate Moosa Hassan with 200 v0tes.
The island council seat had previously been held by the DRP. Yesterday’s win assures a majority of the five-member council to the ruling party.
The constituency of Alif Alif Mathiveri is represented in parliament by DRP MP Hussein Mohamed while the Shaviyani Milandhoo constituency is represented by MDP MP Ali Riza.
In separate statements yesterday, MDP President Dr Ibrahim Didi and Acting Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik congratulated the by-election winners and urged the councillors to “work as closely as possible with the government” to serve the public.
Official results are expected to be announced by the EC on Tuesday.
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