Andey says combining presidential and parliamentary elections helps politicians, not economic stability

Former Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed (Andey) said Thursday that holding the presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day would benefit politicians rather than the economy or the country’s long term stability.

Speaking at Policy MV’s “Siyaasathu Haassa” forum on the proposal to combine the two main elections, Ahmed questioned the government’s justification for pushing the change.

He noted that neighbouring India has been debating the idea for more than a year, yet the Maldives is moving ahead without fully assessing the impact on constituencies or the broader system.

“Just passing a law and saying we have no better way, without looking at the realities across constituencies, is a huge mistake,” he said.

Citing figures released by the Elections Commission, Ahmed said the state spent MVR 147 million on the two rounds of the 2023 presidential election and the 2024 parliamentary election held six months later. That amount is less than two‑thirds of one percent of this year’s national budget, he said.

He questioned whether this is the level of savings the government claims it needs for major development projects.

“In terms of population, that’s MVR 147 per person. If you divide it over five years, it’s MVR 74 per person per year, about 20 laari a day. Is the cost of democracy too high?” he asked.

Ahmed said most election spending goes toward administrative arrangements and procurement of materials, which account for 72 percent of the budget. Another 17 percent is spent on election officials. Even if the two elections are held on the same day, he said, the number of officials required would not decrease, meaning costs would not fall significantly.

He estimated that combining the elections would reduce only about a quarter of total election expenditure, not enough to claim meaningful economic benefit.

“The two elections are not benefiting the people; they are benefiting the politicians. Instead of going to the people twice, they only have to go once,” he said.

Ahmed also questioned why the government is not being held accountable by Parliament and why MPs are not explaining key issues to the public.