Desperate PNC gaslights public after North Hithadhoo blunder
PNC suffered a significant defeat in the North Hithadhoo by-election as the Maldivian Democratic Party reclaimed the parliamentary seat. Despite the government's use of state resources and financial incentives, voters rejected President Muizzu's administration in what critics view as a sign of fading public support. While PNC leadership attempted to frame the loss as a victory, the result highlights growing national dissatisfaction with the current leadership.
Following the embarrassing loss of the North Hithadhoo constituency seat, senior leadership figures within the PNC are now attempting to distort the facts to mislead the public. | Raajje MV
The inevitable downfall of an individual who deceptively hijacked the presidential ticket of the party will soon become obvious as even more secrets are exposed to the world.
This specific sentiment was openly shared by a high-ranking official within the People's National Congress (PNC) following the final outcomes of the North Hithadhoo constituency by-election that took place on Saturday.
Illusion of a grand mandate
The current administration under President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu originally managed to secure governance during the second round of the presidential election in 2023 by obtaining 129,000 votes.
Throughout the Maldives, citizens widely recognize that this specific electoral win was achieved only because every single other political party decided to enter into a coalition with PNC, a move entirely motivated by a shared public desire to remove Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government from power.
Even so, from that very moment onward, top-tier leaders within PNC who are desperate to secure the approval and favor of President Muizzu have consistently manufactured a public image of the head of state that makes him look vastly more influential than his actual political stature reflects. On the flip side of this dynamic, Muizzu himself appeared to enthusiastically embrace this exaggerated perception with open arms.
Flattery, finances and fading support
Regardless of what was actually true, the individual self-interests of the high-ranking PNC officials who constantly flatter Muizzu were successfully being met.
The private corporate enterprises of these individuals expanded and thrived at a speed never seen before. However, as every single day of the presidential term of Muizzu passes by, the actual reality being observed by onlookers is the steady and undeniable evaporation of public backing for the ruling government.
During an environment that felt remarkably like a public referendum when trying to establish a minority administration for the most trusted minister of Muizzu, the population of Feydhoo handed a blunt and unmistakable refusal to both the president and Minister Ihusaan.
Following that event, during the mid-term voting process that Muizzu practically compelled the populace to participate in, the ruling administration suffered an incredibly humiliating loss. In that specific instance, more than 148,000 citizens cast their ballots against Muizzu.
The reality that the total sum of votes gathered by the head of state fell below the entire official membership tally of the PNC prompted regular citizens to observe that the president lacks even genuine, loyal backing from the people inside his own political organization.
Art of hesitation-free lying
As the current administration officially hits its halfway mark, and professional political commentators suggest that the political lifespan of President Muizzu is rapidly drawing to a close, top officials within the main ruling party PNC, who continue to reap massive rewards from the active administration, persistently choose to spread outright fabrications to trick both the head of state and the wider population.
In perfect alignment with what the president himself frequently mentions, these individuals construct untruths without displaying even the slightest shred of doubt or guilt.
Looking back at the People’s Majlis Elections of 2024, the candidate representing PNC, Mohamed Sinan, originally captured the North Hithadhoo parliamentary seat by achieving a winning margin of more than 200 ballots against his nearest opponent.
However, after the highest court in the land officially decreed that Sinan had forfeited his legislative seat, a fresh by-election had to be organized, which ultimately concluded with the candidate from PNC being thoroughly beaten.
Bags of cash and empty attempts
Despite the reality that the entire state apparatus, including various cabinet ministers and high-ranking authorities, effectively set up camp inside Hithadhoo for the duration of a full month, the massive collective endeavor merely culminated in the ruling administration losing control of the North Hithadhoo seat.
Even after dumping out massive sacks filled to the brim with illicit black money and aggressively throwing around endless employment opportunities throughout the region, the local electorate still chose to cast their votes directly against Muizzu.
While the ruling administration watches a parliamentary seat slip completely through its fingers and the victorious MDP candidate Abdulla Sodiq, gets ready to formally take his official oath of office, high-ranking government functionaries and news outlets funded by the state are dedicating all their energy toward framing the failure of PNC in the Addu City North Hithadhoo by-election as if it were a spectacular triumph.
The primary example of this behavior appeared via a public internet post authored by Ibrahim Falah, the Leader of PNC’s Parliamentary Group.
According to the logic of Falah, it was actually PNC that emerged victorious in this particular electoral battle, while Sodiq, the individual who legitimately won the seat, experienced a deeply embarrassing loss.
This public assertion left even dedicated PNC loyalists completely stunned. Falah attempted to argue that North Hithadhoo was historically an unyielding stronghold for MDP and claimed that MDP’s win altered absolutely nothing about the political landscape.
However, the actual truth of the matter happens to be the exact inverse of his claim because MDP successfully won back a legislative seat that the ruling government had managed to secure during the General Election of 2024 just a minor number of months prior.
Resilient spirit of Addu
What has actually played out in full public view is a highly uncomfortable and distressing scenario for the incumbent.
In spite of the heavy deployment of state leverage, governmental assets and the widespread hand-out of financial bribes using money from the public treasury, PNC completely bungled its chance to lock down the North Hithadhoo seat, which serves to further showcase the total absence of popular public backing for him throughout the entire Maldives.
Members of the political opposition note that the unyielding resolve and bravery displayed by the population of Addu have established a magnificent and honorable benchmark for the rest of the country to follow.
The residents of Addu successfully demonstrated to everyone that they refuse to be manipulated by the temptation of dirty, corrupt cash and they will not be bullied by aggressive threats of losing their livelihoods.
This acts as incredibly potent validation of the deep-seated bitterness and fury bubbling up inside the hearts of everyday citizens against the administrative rule of President Muizzu.
Further, it stands as an incredibly obvious sign of the absolute collapse of the entire leadership group within PNC.
No matter how hard the elite of PNC try to warp the objective reality, the North Hithadhoo by-election was simply won by MDP’s chosen candidate.
Whether they happen to like this outcome or not and regardless of whether they feel consumed by anger, sorrow or intense jealousy, the North Hithadhoo seat within the People’s Majlis will officially be filled by the Maldivian Democratic Party’s representative.
