The democratic ideology is entrenched in the right
of citizens to inclusively participate in matters concerning them. This by virtue requires participation
in decision-making and engagement with matters
of governance through the elected representatives.
For participation to be effective, people should have
broad access to information about policy deliberations, they must be consulted and allowed to participate in free and fair elections.
To this end, the survey inquired about the level of
participation in the most recent general elections;
the parliamentary elections held on 6 April 2019.
77.0% of the respondents confirmed having
taken part in the election, with 83.3% of women
and 65.4% of men responding positively. Despite
the high voter turnout of women (105,077) in
comparison to men (107, 002), only 4 women
were elected to parliament. This response is
representative of the 78.41% voter turnout from
across the country in the 2018 April elections14.
People were also asked to point out any issues
with the elections and 46.4% of the respondents
were able to identify at least one. While 7.7%
cited aggressive campaigning as an issue, 7.0%
pointed to mismanagement or incomplete voter
registration. 9.6% of respondents thought lack
of voter education was a problem. More women
(10.1%) than men (8.3%) seemed unhappy about
the lack of voter education.
Table 71: Perception of problematic aspects of the elections, by region
Outer
islands
Urban
Total
Lack of voter education
5.95%
11.65%
9.55%
Mismanagement or incomplete voter
registration
4.19%
8.58%
6.96%
Last minute court election rulings
1.54%
4.99%
3.72%
Inadequate polling booths
1.98%
2.94%
2.59%
Insufficient duration for voting
2.86%
3.84%
3.48%
Aggressive campaigns along party
lines
11.01%
5.76%
7.69%
Other
21.59%
7.04%
12.39%
RF
1.54%
3.84%
3.00%
DK/NA
49.34%
51.34%
50.61%
People’s perception about fair and equitable
distribution of resources between administrative
atolls and islands was also assessed. More than
half (59.0%) of the respondents were unhappy
about the allocations. Indicating strong inclination
for the need to effectively decentralize.
14
https://www.elections.gov.mv/en/mediacenter/news.
html
54
Table 72: Is the distribution of resources between administrative atolls and
islands fair
Total
Strongly Agree
5.63%
Agree
13.26%
Neither
3.27%
Disagree
35.88%
Strongly Disagree
23.16%
RF
1.73%
DK/NA
17.08%
Incidentally, more people living in urban regions
(67.5%) were unhappy with the distribution of
resources between atolls than those in the outer
islands (53.8%).