The Democrats officially register as a political party

The Democrats, led by former Maldives President and current Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, have officially registered as a political party.

Deputy President of the Elections Commission, Ismail Habeeb has confirmed that The Democrats has met all the necessary requirements to be recognized as a political party. The decision to approve The Democrats' registration was made unanimously by the members of the Elections Commission during their general meeting held on Wednesday, July 12. With this approval, The Democrats has officially been added to the list of registered political parties in the Maldives.

The new political party’s application was submitted for registration at the party’s general meeting last Sunday, which is required according to the Political Party’s Act prior to registration.

According to the party’s chair and West-Henveiru MP Hassan Latheef said that the new party’s official color and logo are light blue and an asterisk respectively, with the sign representing corals and coconut palms from the Maldivian reefs and islands.

The party has already appointed its leading with Latheef currently acting as the interim Chairperson of The Democrats, while former Chief Executive Officer of Local Government Authority (LGA) Afshan Latheef included among the three Vice Chairpersons.

While the party had formally registered, its de facto leader Nasheed, signed the party membership on Thursday, July 13.

Nasheed, who has been actively involved in the activities of The Democrats, stated that the party is the larger of the two factions that emerged from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). He further claimed that The Democrats represents approximately 80 percent of the original MDP.

The party was registered with a little over 3,000 signatures, which is the minimum requirement according to the Political Party’s Act.

All close associates of Nasheed including Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla, parliamentarians including Imthiyaz Fahmy and Hassan Latheef were at the grassroots level of the party’s formation.

Meanwhile, The Democrats is currently gearing up to nominate its presidential candidate for the elections scheduled for September 9.

Before the formation of The Democrats, MDP experienced internal divisions, resulting in the emergence of Nasheed led a faction known as the "Revival of an ideology". The disagreements between Nasheed and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih became apparent, particularly during the MDP primary, where Nasheed was defeated by President Solih.