Joint senate to decide on the candidates proposed by Yameen

The leadership of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) on Wednesday approved a motion allowing the senates of both parties to decide on the candidates for president and running mate if former President Abdulla Yameen is deemed ineligible to run in the upcoming election.

The motion was approved by the leadership of both parties, which includes the leaders and vice leaders of PPM and PNC, as well as the eight members comprising the coalition's parliamentarians.

Mihaaru News reported that former President Yameen left the decision regarding the joint senate to have the final say on the candidates he puts forward up to People's National Congress (PNC) on two occasions.

Yameen had initially wanted the leadership of the two coalition parties to independently determine a presidential candidate and their running mate. However, the parties decided to leave this decision to Yameen. The former president refused to accept this and requested PNC's senate to make a decision on the issue instead.

The leadership of both parties met again today and reaffirmed that Yameen should be the one to make the initial suggestion on who should run for the presidency in case his application is rejected. However, this time, the parties agreed that even though Yameen will propose the candidates, the joint senate of PPM and PNC will have the final say in making the decision.

"The leadership agreed to submit a proposal to President Yameen to discuss and decide on the candidate and running mate put forward by him. If President Yameen agrees to this, we will go forward with this," a source confirmed to Mihaaru News.

PPM has now lodged a case with the Supreme Court challenging the Elections Commission's (EC) decision to reject Yameen's application due to his due to his ongoing 11-year prison sentence.

The deadline for submitting applications to run in the presidential election scheduled for September 9, is Monday, August 7. The opposition is facing increased pressure due to the rejection of Yameen's candidacy, and some members of PPM have expressed concern over the party's unwillingness to discuss the matter. A heated argument broke out in one of the WhatsApp groups involving senate members regarding this issue, last night.