President Solih holds meeting with coalition to kickstart campaign

Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) presidential candidate, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, held talks with coalition parties and campaign teams on Thursday regarding his second presidential run.

President of Adhaalath Party Imran Abdulla, the leadership from Maldives Democratic Alliance (MDA), and President Solih's team from MDP had attended the meeting to set up organize kickstarting their activities after Eid al-Adha.

Only Adhaalath Party and MDA has agreed to form an alliance with MDP so far.

The president's campaign is set to kick off after the Eid holidays during the last week of this month. He is scheduled to travel to different islands along with teams from the alliance parties.

Vice President of MDA, Ali Mauroof, said that prior to commencing the campaign, the three coalition parties would collectively share information with the public.

Even though MDA has agreed to form an alliance with MDP, the details of their cooperation has not yet been finalised.

MDP had extended an invitation to the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), led by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, to join the coalition. However, the Election Commission (EC) has announced that it has dissolved MRM due to not meeting the minimum required number of members to be an active political party.

Currently, MRM is undergoing the legal process to reinstate the party and has not made a decision regarding the alliance with MDP.

Jumhooree Party, which is part of the current ruling coalition administration, refused to accept the invitation and decided to contest the elections separately.

As MDP prepares for a second term in office, a number of parliamentarians have resigned from MDP over differences in opinions. Supporters of Speaker Mohamed Nasheed have chosen to establish a new political party called "The Democrats" and have announced their intention to field their own presidential candidate for the upcoming election.

According to the leadership of MDP, the party can secure victory in the presidential election even if JP decides to contest separately from the coalition. MDP believes that their party can achieve this victory in a single round of voting.