President Abdulla Yameen is exceptionally frightful of the electoral process and this would likely be a challenge in the upcoming presidential elections, deputy mayor Shamau Shareef has said.

Shamau said at Raajje Television’s “MiRaees” program that if the 2018 ballots are going to be held in an environment conducive to a free and fair process, President Yameen would likely not compete.

Shamau went on to criticize the circumstances under which the incumbent president previously attained a seat in parliament, to say that he ‘won by default’.

“If he wins, it would most likely be having disqualified his opponents by some means, and through that sort of elimination” he said.

The council member, who along with peers defied a contentious government decision about local government councils meeting foreign diplomats, appeared on the program alongside parliamentarian Abdul Gafoor Moosa.

They both expressed their shared conviction that if the 2018 elections are fair, and majority votes are to truly decide the outcome, President Yameen would undoubtedly lose.