Preliminary results released by the Elections Commission (EC) show that the People’s National Congress (PNC) has secured a majority of seats in Saturday’s Local Council and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections.

The provisional figures indicate that PNC won 262 seats in the Local Council elections, while the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) secured 227 seats. Independent candidates won 74 seats.

In the WDC elections, the PNC obtained 164 seats, compared to 149 won by the MDP, while independent candidates secured 48 seats.

The preliminary outcome also shows that the PNC has gained a majority of both Local Council and WDC President positions.

The party contested the elections with the highest number of candidates across both categories and had already secured several seats uncontested prior to polling day.