President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on Friday night, remarked he would win the presidential election if the voting was held today itself.

Speaking at Ufaavari Male’ campaign event held in Male’ City on Friday night – he said there was no doubt whether he could win this election, adding if the voting is held tonight itself even, he would emerge as the winner. He stressed that support for him would increase every remaining day and every remaining minute to the election.

“The election has now ended. Ended. Ended,” he said.

“If the vote is held tonight even, we will win, by the blessing of the almighty. If the vote is counted tomorrow, the votes will increase even further. When the vote is counted on September 9th we will emerge victorious by a much larger landslide. With every passing second, with every passing minute, Maldivians are moving closer to a happy and peaceful Maldives,” he added.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih speaks at MDP's 'Ufaavari Male' campaign event on September 1, 2023. (Sun Photo/Mohamed Shaathiu Abdulla)

President Solih, who is campaigning for a second term in office, has repeatedly been claiming he can take the election without a runoff.

He stressed that the people did not wish to go back to the cruelty that was the last administration. The president said when he was arrested during PPM’s administration, there were enough prisoners in jail to run a government.

“There were enough people in jail to run a whole separate government,” he had said.

President Solih repeatedly stated that there was no other outcome than this year’s election ending without a runoff. In this trajectory, he said the public has already made a decision, which is to elect him for a second term in office in one round.

He had won the last presidential election without a runoff. His only contestant in 2018’s election, however, was then-president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom. All political parties apart from PPM had decided to back President Solih back then.