Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail has been elected as the new chairperson of ruling Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), in a landslide win against MP Imthiyaz Fahmy.

Fayyaz also took most votes from ballot boxes of several islands and cities.

As per the preliminary results, Fayyaz received over 28,000 votes from 282 ballot boxes during the election. MP Imthiyaz received over 20,000 votes.

Fayyaz, who won the election, is backed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. A majority of lawmakers and cabinet ministers were also supporting Fayyaz for the position. On the other hand, MP Imthiyaz was backed by Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed.

The two candidates had carried out quite a big campaign for the election, having traveled to all the islands of the country.

While Fayyaz has won the election, MP Imthiyaz's team has raised questions about the legitimacy of the election. As such, they added that the election was influenced by the government and that there were several complaints that may change the outcomes of four ballot boxes.

While there were 94,000 eligible voters in the election, a total of 282 ballot boxes were placed.