Malé City Council’s newly elected Mayor Adam Azim has taken his oath of office.

Mayor Azim was sworn in alongside three newly-elected councilors for vacant seats at the Malé City Council during a ceremony held at Dharubaaruge on Monday night.

Newly-elected Mayor of Malé City Council, Adam Azim was officially inducted into office on Monday evening, alongside councillors representing three constituencies; ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s candidate who contested on a former ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ticket Ahmed Rishwan for Central Henveiru, candidate of PNC Hassan Nazim for South Maafannu and candidate of PNC Aminath Rishfa for South Henveiru.

Their oath of office was administered by Supreme Court Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir.

The newly inaugurated officials signed their oaths, formalizing their commitment to their roles and responsibilities during Monday’s ceremony.

The post of Malé City Mayor became vacant after Dr. Mohamed Muizzu won the presidential election in 2023.

The three seats in the council were also vacated after those holding these positions earlier were appointed to key government positions.

The new mayor is someone who is renowned for his remarkable work, especially as the former CEO of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC).

Azim holds a Master of Business in Financing from the University of Nottingham as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Financing from the University of East London in the United Kingdom.

He has contributed a lot in the field of governance over the course of the past 20 years.

The by-election for the three council seats and mayor was held on January 13.

MDP’s Azim defeated the government-endorsed candidate in a landslide victory in the Malé City Council by-election.

The former ruling party won the mayoral seat and the Central Henveiru seat. However, the council member for Central Henveiru constituency had signed onto the ruling PNC before taking oath.

Azim led the mayoral race with the highest number of votes; 7,621 which is 44.81 percent of the voter turnout.

A total of 54,680 were eligible to cast their votes in the by-election, however only 17,410 exercised their right to vote, which is 31.84 percent of the eligible voters.

Nazim won the South Maafannu seat with 383 votes, with Rishfa securing the South Henveiru seat with 411 votes and Rishwan winning the Central Henveiru seat with 320 votes.

Further, PNC candidate Zaeema Abdul Rasheed won the Women’s Development Committee (WDC) by-election for Mulah island in Meemu atoll with 243 votes.

The Elections Commission (EC) revealed that the by-election observed a low voter turnout, which is concerning as every citizen is expected to exercise their right to vote, with the parliamentary polls also around the corner.