Editing Politics of the Maldives (section)

==Political parties and elections==
On a national level, Maldives elects a [[head of state]] {{En dash}} the president {{En dash}} and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people since 2008. Until 2005 (after the election), no legal parties existed. The results of the most recent legislative elections held in 2024 are:{{Election results|image=[[File:20th Parliament of the Maldives.svg]]|party1=[[People's National Congress (Maldives)|People's National Congress]]|votes1=101128|seats1=66|sc1=+63|party2=[[Maldivian Democratic Party]]|votes2=65476|seats2=12|sc2=–53|party4=[[Maldives Development Alliance]]|votes4=4071|seats4=2|sc4=0|party5=[[Jumhooree Party]]|votes5=3141|seats5=1|sc5=–4|party7=[[Maldives National Party]]|votes7=1060|seats7=1|sc7=New|party6=[[Adhaalath Party]]|votes6=2538|seats6=0|sc6=0|party3=[[The Democrats (Maldives)|The Democrats]]|votes3=4634|seats3=0|sc3=New|party8=Independents|votes8=30931|seats8=11|sc8=+4|total_sc=+6|valid=212,979|invalid=4120|electorate=284663|source=[https://results.elections.gov.mv/index.html ECM], [https://www.orfonline.org/research/what-does-maldives-parliament-elections-mean-for-india-and-china ORF]}}The Maldivian parliament voted unanimously for the creation of a multiparty system on June 2, 2005.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Maldives (01/07) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/maldives/79154.htm |access-date=24 August 2024 |website=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref> Prior to June 2005, the Maldivian political system was based on the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform. In June 2005, as part of an ongoing programme of democratic reform, new regulations were promulgated to formally recognized political parties within the framework of the electoral system.

The Maldivian Democratic Party was already active. New parties created within a few years after this included those such as the [[Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party]], the [[Jumhooree Party]], and the [[Adhaalath Party]].<ref name=":1" />

There are now 10 registered political parties in the Maldives:
{| class="wikitable"
!Party 
!Registered Date
|-
|[[Maldivian Democratic Party|Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)]]
|26 June 2005
|-
|[[Adhaalath Party|Adhaalath Party (AP)]]
|18 August 2005
|-
|[[Jumhooree Party|Jumhooree Party (JP)]]
|2 August 2008
|-
|[[Progressive Party of Maldives|Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)]]
|27 October 2011
|-
|[[Maldives Development Alliance|Maldives Development Alliance (MDA)]]
|30 December 2012
|-
|[[Maldives Third Way Democrats|Maldives Third Way Democrats (MTD)]]
|27 December 2018
|-
|[[People's National Congress (Maldives)|People's National Congress (PNC)]]
|31 January 2019
|-
|[[Maldives Reform Movement|Maldives Reform Movement (MRM)]]
|20 November 2019
|-
|[[Maldives National Party|Maldives National Party (MNP)]]
|25 October 2021
|-
|[[The Democrats (Maldives)|The Democrats (TD)]]
|12 July 2023
|-
|[[People's National Front|People's National Front (PNF)]]
|25 April 2024
|-
| colspan="2" |Source: [[Elections Commission (Maldives)|Elections Commission]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Political Parties |url=https://www.elections.gov.mv/en/political-parties |access-date=24 August 2024 |website=[[Elections Commission (Maldives)]]}}</ref>
|}
On October 8, 2008, the country held its [[Maldivian presidential election, 2008|first ever multi-party presidential election]].<ref name="Maldives begin historic election"/>

In the [[2019 Maldivian parliamentary election|2019 parliamentary election]], MDP won 65 seats in the 87 seat parliament. This was the first time a single party was able to get such a high number of seats in the parliament in Maldivian history.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 April 2019 |title=Majlis 19: An overview in numbers |url=https://avas.mv/en/62819 |access-date=4 September 2024 |work=Avas}}</ref>

In the [[2024 Maldivian parliamentary election|2024 parliamentary election]], PNC won 66 seats in the 93 seat parliament, meanwhile MDP received 12.<ref name=":3" />