PNC senate to decide presidential candidate

After former President Abdulla Yameen refused to suggest names for Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) presidential candidate and running mate for a third time, the main opposition and its coalition partner People’s National Congress (PNC) are expected to hold a senate meeting on Thursday to finalize a decision.

The PPM/PNC leadership on Wednesday afternoon agreed to seek Yameen’s instructions for alternative names as the presidential and running mate candidates. The leadership decided Yameen will be finalizing the names after which the senate will make the eventual decision to field them.

While it was reported that the leadership shared its senate decision with Yameen, the former president had handed over the discretion to PNC.

Following this, PNC has announced that its senate meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 3. The party sent its agenda to PNC senate members, stating that the party will be bringing necessary changes to its regulations if a presidential candidate and a running mate are nominated.

As of now, it is unclear if PNC wishes to hold a joint senate meeting with PPM, but the parties held two meetings on Wednesday.

The PPM/PNC senate consists of the parties' leaders and vice leaders along with the eight MPs who represent the coalition.

Rumors indicate that Malé City mayor, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, is the frontrunner for the presidency through PNC's ticket, along with Guraidhoo MP Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon and Maavashu MP Mohamed Saeed. However, these names have not been formally discussed within the senate yet.

The PPM/PNC coalition's attempts to field Yameen as its candidate failed after the Elections Commission (EC) rejected his candidacy form on Tuesday, August 1. The commission cited his constitutional ineligibility based on Article 109 of the Maldives Constitution as the reason for the rejection.

PPM challenged EC’s decision by appealing the case to the Supreme Court which it has since accepted.

Yameen earlier appointed Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, his former running mate from the 2013 election, as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election.

Article 109 of the Maldives Constitution stipulates that a candidate should not have a criminal sentence of more than 12 months, and three years should have elapsed since the candidate's release or pardon for the sentence, in order to be eligible to run for presidency.

Yameen is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for his convictions of money laundering and graft in the Vaavu atoll Aarah lease case. The sentence was delivered by the Maldives Criminal Court on December 25, 2022.

His case has been appealed to the High Court, but the trials have been delayed for some time, reducing the chances for Yameen to run in the 2023 presidential election.