MP-elect Mohamed Rasheed, who won Sunday's parliamentary election for the Nolhivaram constituency, has signed to the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) after having secured his seat for the 20th Parliament as an independent candidate.
MP-elect Mohamed Rasheed, who won Sunday's parliamentary election for the Nolhivaram constituency, has signed to the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) after having secured his seat for the 20th Parliament as an independent candidate.
MP-elect Mohamed Rasheed joined the ruling PNC on Wednesday evening, following six other MP-elects who had also joined the party earlier in the day.
With this, the ruling PNC will able to field 73 candidates in the 20th Parliament, which will be sworn in on May 28, giving them a supermajority without the support of any other political parties.
The parliamentary election, which concluded on Sunday, saw 66 candidates endorsed by the ruling PNC elected into the 20th Parliament. On Wednesday, 7 additional candidates who successfully won seats signed up with the PNC, bringing their total to 74, including affiliated party candidates from Jumhooree Party (JP), Maldives National Party (MNP), and Maldives Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Five of the seven MP-elects who joined the ruling PNC after the election were registered as members of the party in the past, and had stepped away from the party to contest as independent candidates against party-ticket winners in their respective constituencies. They are MP-elect for Huraa constituency Dr Anaara Naeem, MP-elect for Mathiveri constituency Hassan Zareer, MP-elect for Central Machangoalhi Ahmed Zameer, MP-elect for Naifaru constituency Yaaseen Abdulla and MP-elect for Villingilli constituency Azim Abdul Azeez.
These five MP-elects initially left the PNC after the party leadership signaled that they would be endorsed if they pursued independent candidacies instead of those who had won tickets within the party primary in their respective constituencies.
MP-elect for Nolhivaram constituency Mohamed Rasheed and MP-elect for Thimarafushi constituency Ahmed Riyaz are members who both signed to the ruling PNC on Wednesday as new members of the party.
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