Zariyand: No link to Nasheed during council election; most voters were Yameen’s supporters

Ismail Zariyand, who ran for the Malé City mayoral position with the backing of former president Abdulla Yameen, stated that he had no political association with former president Mohamed Nasheed during the recent local council elections, adding that the overwhelming majority of his votes were supporters of Yameen.

During the campaign period, following the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary held on January 16, certain members alleged that Nasheed and his supporters were actively working to secure backing for Zariyand. At the time, Nasheed was campaigning for MDP candidates, traveling to various islands to strengthen their electoral prospects.

Responding to these allegations, Zariyand—who has previously collaborated with Nasheed in both the MDP and The Democrats—stated in a social media post that numerous families who had initially pledged their support to him later informed him that Nasheed had contacted them directly, encouraging them to vote for the MDP instead.

"...since [Nasheed] informed me that he could not support any party other than the MDP, there was no collaboration between us during this campaign," Zariyand’s post read. He added that Nasheed had explicitly affirmed his commitment to supporting only the MDP in the election.

Providing a detailed breakdown of his electoral support, Zariyand wrote: "A review of the votes indicates that approximately 83 percent of those who voted for me are supporters of President Yameen. About 10 percent were persuaded by our campaign proposals, while 5 percent consisted of family members and close associates. Only 2 percent of the votes came from MDP members who had pledged their support."

According to the provisional results of last Saturday’s local council elections, Zariyand placed third among five candidates contesting the Malé mayoral seat, receiving 6,302 votes. The election was won by the incumbent mayor Adam Azim, representing MDP, who secured 13,906 votes, followed by the People's National Congress (PNC) candidate, Moosa Ali Jaleel, who obtained 9,380 votes.

Following the election, Zariyand formally joined former president Yameen’s party, the People's National Front (PNF). His membership was announced during a town hall meeting hosted by the party on Monday evening.