[3][4] It was the fourth consecutive election in which a Maldivian president failed to win reelection, the last to do so having been Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ran unopposed, in 2003.

[5] Former president Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had announced his candidacy for president, but due to his sentencing in 2018 to 11 years in prison for corruption and money laundering due to his connection to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation scandal he is ineligible to appear on the ballot.

PPM's vice president Mohamed Muizzu purportedly ran on his behalf as a nominee of the PNC, which he also joined before the election.

[23] PNC's president Abdul Raheem said that he would withdraw the candidacy if the Maldivian Supreme Court allowed Yameen to compete in the upcoming elections,[26] which ended up not happening.

The incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih campaigned on an "India-first" policy, aiming to strengthen ties with the Maldives' geographical and cultural neighbour.

On the opposite side, Mohamed Muizzu, adopting the slogan "India out", called for Indian military personnel stationed on the archipelago to leave, while campaigning for closer relations with China.

This kept in line with the policies of former president Abdulla Yameen, founder of the People's National Congress, under whom the Maldives joined China's Belt and Road Initiative.

[40] Muizzu also campaigned on freeing Yameen, at the time serving an 11-year prison sentence for bribery and money laundering, pushing for the former president to be transferred to house arrest.

Jailed on the same island where he arrested several of his political opponents, Yameen had requested to be moved home for health reasons two weeks prior to the election's second round.

[48] On the day following the election, Mohamed Muizzu's demands for the liberation of Abdulla Yameen were successful, with the former president being transferred to house arrest.