News Desk
President Mohamed Muizzu said the proposal to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day failed because the PNC’s campaign teams did not carry out their work properly. Speaking at a rally in Rasdhoo on Saturday night, he said the party must accept responsibility for the outcome and learn from it.
President Muizzu said the idea of synchronising the two national elections had clear advantages and no real drawbacks, but the government and the party failed to explain this to the public. “I explained very briefly the reason for my proposal. There was clear benefit. There was no harm. It was obvious. But we did not make the effort to explain it properly to the people,” he said.
He said the campaign teams did not approach voters in a coordinated or friendly manner, especially during the final days when direct engagement mattered most. “If you go to the people and work as a team, you will succeed. We did not pay enough attention to that. Because of this, only the lies spread by the opposition reached the people,” he said. “It went into confusion. We were not able to explain it. This is a lesson we must learn.”
The rally in Rasdhoo was held to celebrate the PNC’s victories in Rasdhoo, Ukulhas and Thoddoo. President Muizzu said the referendum result reflected shortcomings in the party’s communication effort and stressed that the issue had been straightforward.
More than 68 percent of voters rejected the proposal to hold the two elections on the same day. A total of 148,859 people voted against the change, while 67,680 voted in favour.
