The government failed to get votes from all the members of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) in the referendum to merge the presidential and parliamentary elections held on April 4.
According to the Elections Commission (EC), PNC had 74,048 registered members by January 1.
However, according to the preliminary results, 67,137 people voted in favor of the government's proposal to merge the elections, while 146,112 voted against it.
President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in the second round of the 2023 presidential election with 129,159 votes. This means the government got 55,111 less votes compared to two years ago.
A total of 109,868 people voted against Muizzu in 2023 presidential election. More than two years later, the number of voters against the government rose by 36,244.
The PNC has been defeated in all five cities in the local council elections held on Saturday, while the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won the mayor seat and the president seat of the Women's Development Committee (WDC) in five cities.
