The biggest reason for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s defeat in last month's parliamentary election is the government's intimidation and influence on the vote, MDP's Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has said.
Speaking on Adhadhu's Etherefuh program, Fayyaz said the public had voted for the government during the past three parliamentary elections held since the new constitution came into force.
However, Fayyaz said the MDP hoped to win a majority in this year's parliamentary election and the hope remained until the last two days of the campaign.
"Why did this result come? There are many reasons. But the most important reason, in my opinion, is the government's influence and the government's intimidation of the people," the former Economic Minister said.
Many people faced the fear of losing jobs if the government candidate was not elected, Fayyaz said.
“Then besides, you know even if it is coincidental, about 4,000 to 5,000 government jobs were created within about 10 days of the election, especially in state-owned companies,” he added.
MDP secured 11 seats in the 20th People's Majlis while the government has confirmed a supermajority. According to the preliminary results, 66 candidates from the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) won seats.
Meanwhile, six independent MPs-elect have joined the PNC. The government has a supermajority of 76 MPs including Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim, Maldives National Party (MNP) President Mohamed Nazim and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) leader Ahmed Siyam Mohamed.
