Journalist Wisam secures landslide win in parliament election

Journalist Mohamed Wisam has won the bid for his native Gan constituency parliament seat, initial vote count shows.

Wisam is the youngest candidate to have contested in Saturday’s election and represents the government coalition’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Results of most ballot boxes show a landslide lead for Wisam against Jumhooree Party candidate Adam Asif, Adhaalath Party candidate Farhaadh Dhawood, and non-partisan candidates Nahula Ali and Abdulla Didi.

Wisam rose to prominence during his time as a senior journalist with Raajje Television, and was the victim of what has widely been described as former president Abdulla Yameen’s crackdown on political dissent and the media.

He was arrested alongside two other colleagues while covering a rally in 2015, and were subsequently tried and found guilty of police obstruction. His legal representatives appealed the verdict, and claimed a mistrial; the station staff say they were also subject to abuse while in police custody.

Wisam was also arrested in 2018 over allegations of impersonating a police officer, in a supposedly leaked video that depicts them criticizing the Yameen administration over a prolonged state of emergency that had then been place.

The only evidence used against him in the trial that followed had been an intelligence report prepared by the police, and he was ultimately released over lack of evidence.

Raajje Television denounced both charges as part of a series of organized attacks on the station and journalists in the Maldives, leading back to an arson attack in 2013 that razed their studio and control room.

While interim results are yet to be announced, initial count shows a 62-seat victory for MDP, of 86 seats that the party is contesting for.