Election Was Peaceful, Transparent and Well-Administered, Says TM

Transparency Maldives has described the Parliamentary Elections held on Sunday as peaceful, transparent, and generally well-administered.

In a press release issued today, TM congratulated Maldivian citizens for their spirited engagement in the democratic process. The NGO dispatched over 270 observers and volunteers across the country as well as Colombo and Kuala Lampur for their election observation, it said.

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Key findings from TM’s observation indicate that 99.5 percent of polling stations closed by 6 p.m., with minimal instances where individuals were unable to vote due to issues such as missing names on the voter registry or discrepancies in details.

The NGO noted that voting had been temporarily halted in three percent of polling stations, with 71 percent of cases representing interventions of the presiding official in charge. Police entered 12 percent of polling stations, with 67 percent of such cases were upon the invitation of the presiding official in charge.

During the vote counting process, candidates were adequately represented, with at least one candidate representative present at 96 percent of polling stations.

Despite the positive assessment, the local chapter of Transparency International recommended “immediate measures to address wider issues, including vote buying, lack of transparency in political finance, abuse of state resources, barriers for women’s equal participation in the electoral processes, and bring long overdue reforms to the electoral legal framework.”

The NGO expressed particular concern over the abuse of state resources to influence the election, highlighting several projects and initiatives announced by the government in the days leading up to polls.

TM expressed concern over the lack of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to combat vote-buying. The NGO also called for greater transparency in political finance and urged political parties to review internal policies to facilitate women’s participation in politics.

Furthermore, TM raised issues regarding voter constituency assignment based on permanent addresses, which it argued deprived citizens of fair representation. The NGO called for parliamentary debate and review of relevant laws pertaining to this matter.