The Election Commission (EC) has made the decision to announce the order of candidates contesting in this year's presidential election on Wednesday, August 9.

EC's Vice Chief Ismail Habeeb said in a tweet today, that the order for qualified presidential candidates who have applied to run will be determined through a lottery process.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at Dharubaaruge from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM on August 9. All contesting candidates are expected to attend the ceremony.

Habeeb said that if a candidate is unable to attend, a representative of the candidate can participate in their place.

With only 36 days left until the election, the list of confirmed candidates for the upcoming presidential election includes President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih representing the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), MP Ilyas Labeeb from The Democrats party, Jumhooree Party Leader MP Qasim Ibrahim, President of the Maldives National Party (MNP) MP Mohamed Nazim, former Housing Minister Umar Naseem, and Maldives Reform Movement leader Faris Maumoon.

Former president Abdulla Yameen submitted his nomination on behalf of the main opposition party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), for the upcoming election. However, his candidacy was rejected by the Election Commission (EC), and the issue is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court.

People's National Congress (PNC) made a decision on Thursday to represent the opposition in the event that Yameen is unable to participate in the presidential election. Malé City Mayor Dr. Mohamad Muizz, will run as the candidate for PNC.

The deadline for submitting nominations is set to expire on Monday, August 7. Although Yameen is the only candidate to file his candidacy forms, he is constitutionally ineligible to contest in the elections due to his ongoing 11-year prison sentence.