Ibrahim Falah, the Parliamentary Group Leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC), stated that the primary objective of holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously is to reduce the substantial expenditures incurred by the state and candidates, while fostering political and economic stability within the country. Highlighting that conducting each election separately results in an estimated wastage of 800 to 900 million Rufiyaa every five years, he emphasized that this initiative is a crucial step towards strengthening the Maldivian governance system rather than seeking advantage for a specific party. Falah further noted that this is a reform previously supported by the opposition, and asserted that such a change would yield positive impacts on the Maldives’ fragile, tourism-dependent economy.
