MDP Spokesperson Anas Abdul Sattar says a 71 percent voter turnout for the party's primary held yesterday was a success.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih beat MDP President and Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed by a margin of 8,941 votes. President Solih secured 61 percent of the total votes which amounts to 24,572 Speaker Nasheed received 39 percent of the total votes counted which amounts to 15,631.
MDP official statistics showed that a total of 40,887 MDP members out of the 57,255 cast their votes in the first-ever competitive primary held by the largest political party in the country.
At a news conference today, Anas said that 70 percent of the eligible voters casting their votes is a huge success and predicted that the upcoming MDP internal elections would be more competitive and fierce.
Anas also said that the MDP would work to improve the election systems and voting mechanisms in the future.
