Malé City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has signed up with the People’s National Congress (PNC) as part of his efforts to secure the party's presidential ticket.
Dr. Muizzu had previously informally announced his interest in contesting the presidential election, which is set for September 9.
According to PNC's regulations, candidates vying for the party's presidential ticket must be registered members of the party. Despite being the Vice President of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), the main party in the PPM/PNC coalition, Dr. Muizzu has signed up with PNC to fulfill the party's requirement for his election bid.
In addition to Dr. Muizzu, Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef has also informally announced his interest to contest in the election through PNC. Shareef, who previously served as the defense minister, has been the vice PNC for a considerable period.
Following the senate meeting held on Thursday morning, the party members of PNC voted in favor of the party contesting the elections separately. In the wake of this decision, the party has now opened the floor for its members to nominate candidates, with the deadline set for 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 3.
PNC is scheduled to convene at 4:00 p.m. to finalize the candidate it will field for the upcoming election.
To expedite the process and meet the tight timeline of the upcoming presidential election, PNC opted to amend its regulations and transfer the discretion to nominate a presidential candidate from a primary election to the senate. This decision was made due to the limited time available for the primary election process.
PPM has appealed the rejection of former president Abdulla Yameen's candidacy to the Supreme Court. The court has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Friday, August 4th.
As the August 7 deadline for candidacy nominations approaches, the lack of discussion and nomination of a candidate within the PNC has started to raise concerns among its senate members.
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