Maldives Democratic Party, the largest party in the ruling coalition, appointed parliamentary representative for Hithadhoo-North constituency Mohamed Aslam as its Parliamentary Group Leader, and parliamentary representative for Hithadhoo-South constituency Ali Nizar as Chief Whip on Thursday.
The post of Parliamentary Group Leader was previously held by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, while Chief Whip was parliamentary representative for the Machangoalhi-North constituency Mariya Ahmed Didi. The positions were hence vacated by their resignations from parliament following the election of President Solih, and his subsequent appointment of Mariya Didi as Minister of Defence.
MP Aslam and MP Nizar were awarded the leading positions for the 18-member parliamentary group without any vote, as no further lawmakers had contested by end of Thursday’s deadline.
Widely considered to be a close ally to former President Mohamed Nasheed, MP Aslam was the campaign manager for his Presidential Campaign during MDPs’ 2018 Presidential Primaries.
Next year, will mark MP Aslam’s 10th year as a lawmaker representing the Hithadhoo-North constituency. Prior to his own tenure in the parliament, Aslam was the campaign manager for Dr. Mohamed Munavvar, who himself served for a decade as MP of Addu constituency and later as President of MDP.
MP Aslam has already announced his decision to run in the 2019 parliamentary elections, presumably for the Hithadhoo-North constituency.
Nizar was elected as a lawmaker in 2014 to represent the Hithadhoo-South constituency and has also confirmed his intent to run for the seat a second time in March 2019.
Sign In