President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has said he advocates the abolition of the second round of the presidential election and the introduction of a preferential voting system in the Maldives.
On Thursday, Muizzu sought the support of ruling party MPs in his bid to amend the constitution to abolish the second round of the presidential election and allow the president to be elected in one round of voting.
In a message sent to his WhatsApp channel, Muizzu said he was advocating for a preferential system. He did not give any further details.
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During a meeting at Muleeaage, Muizzu told MPs that he wants to bring the change within this year.
Muizzu also said he plans to hold a referendum to merge the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed is the only political leader who has supported the preferential voting system so far.
In a post on X, Nasheed said he thinks it would be better to vote in a single round of the presidential election and form a government with a preferential vote.
However, opposition leader Fayyaz Ismail said the government is trying to change the system without any sincerity.
Only former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was able to win more than 50 percent votes in a single round since multi-party democracy was introduced to the Maldives in 2008.
The main reason for winning the election in a single round was that all the opposition parties formed a coalition with the MDP before the presidential election, as their leaders were jailed.
