List of Maldivian presidential candidates
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Sixteen people have run in the presidential elections in the Maldives since the first election in 1952. These elections determine the President of the Maldives, who serves as both head of state and head of government under the Constitution of the Maldives. Presidential elections in the Maldives have taken place in both the First and Second republics.
The first presidential election happened in 1952, during the First Republic of the Maldives. Mohamed Amin Didi along with his running mate, Ibrahim Muhammad Didi, won with 96% of the votes and were elected as president and vice president, respectively. Under the 1968 Constitution, the People's Majlis chose a single presidential nominee from a list of candidates and a national referendum was held. The nominee was either approved or rejected for a five-year term. The second presidential election happened in the same year, where Ibrahim Nasir won with 97%.
The 2008 election served as the first multiparty presidential election under the 2008 Constitution, which introduced a direct popular vote and a two-term limit. It was the second-most contested election, with six people participating from different political parties. Mohamed Nasheed from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won the election and defeated the incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The election held in 2013 was the first and only presidential election to be annulled by the Supreme Court of the Maldives, following reports which claimed that dead people and people under the voting age had voted. Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) defeated Nasheed in the re-run.
The least-contested election under the 2008 constitution was the 2018 election, with two candidates from two parties. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the MDP defeated incumbent Yameen of the PPM. President Yameen alleged that the election was rigged due to the use of disappearing ink; this claim was rejected by the Supreme Court. The most-contested election was the 2023 election, with eight people participating from different political parties. None of them reached the 50% needed to win so a second round was held in which the two leading candidates, Mohamed Muizzu of the People's National Congress (PNC) and the incumbent Solih, ran against each other; Muizzu defeated Solih.