Presidential Candidate of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and current President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and leader of the Jumhooree Party (JP) Qasim Ibrahim are in discussions about working together for the second round of the presidential election to be held on September 30.
The President arrived in Sun Island on Wednesday evening at about 5pm.
A member of the JP in Sun Island revealed that the two leaders have spent about 12 hours in discussions.
Referring to the two leaders, he said, "They met separately Wednesday night and spent a lot of time in discussions. Excluding breaks, it is estimated that the two leaders would have spent about 12 hours in discussions, which continued until they retired for the night [at around 1 am]."
According to information received, former tourism minister Ali Waheed and businessman and friend of Qasim, Ismail Shujau (Imma), are the only people participating in the discussions from Qasim's side.
A close associate of Qasim said "The President and Qasim mostly met alone [without other people]"
Qasim called some members of the JP leadership to Sun Island, including Deputy Leader Ameen Ibrahim, Kendhoo MP Ali Hussain and Advisor Iruthisham Adam.
Other leaders of the JP have been in Sun Island since Wednesday include Advisors Ahmed Nihan and Riyaz Rasheed as well as former MP Ali Shah and Abdulla Ahmed.
People who accompanied the President to Sun Island include his running mate Mohamed Aslam, foreign minister Abdulla Shahid and chief of staff at the President's Office and lead member of Adhaalath Party Ali Zahir.
A team representing the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)/ People's National Congress (PNC) presidential candidate Dr. Mohamed Muizzu who went to the second round with the most number of votes had discussions with Qasim in Sun Island three days ago. However, it is not clear that any decisions have been taken in regards to either of the two meetings.
President Solih received 86,171 votes in the first round of the presidential election while Dr. Muizzu received 101,635 votes.
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