Only Three Female MPs Secure Seats in Parliament

Female representation in the Maldives parliament has seen a decline in the 20th assembly, with just three female MPs securing seats out of the 368 candidates vying in the parliamentary election.

Preliminary results indicate that independent candidate Anara Naeem is leading for the Huraa seat, PNC candidate Asma Rasheed for the Central-Maafannu seat, and Fathimath Saudha for Nilandhoo, emerging as the sole female lawmakers to gain traction in their respective constituencies.

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Asma, who previously represented Central-Maafannu in the 18th parliament assembly, garnered 725 votes, while her opponent, MDP’s candidate Ahmed Amir, received 401 votes. Similarly, Saudha, the younger sister of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, secured 66 percent of the votes in her constituency, with her independent rival, Ahmed Rasheed, receiving 33 percent.

Anara secured 48.71 percent of the votes in her constituency, with PNC candidate Abdulla Waris as her closest competitor, receiving 29.84 percent of the votes.

A total of 13 female candidates from The Democrats contested in this year’s parliamentary election, marking the highest number of female candidates from a political party. However, none of the party’s candidates secured seats according to preliminary results.

Only four female candidates represented MDP in the concluded assembly, including former Vice Speaker Eva Abdulla, MPs Rozaina Adam, Jeehan Mahmood, and Hisan Hussain. However, both Jeehan and Eva lost their seats in this year’s election.

Despite the drop in female representation, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had earlier pledged efforts to increase the number of female MPs in the parliament. He also promised a special allowance for female MPs elected through PPM and PNC tickets, emphasising the importance of achieving gender balance with one-third of the members being female.

From PNC, only two female candidates contested in the parliamentary election, Saudha and Asma.