Following Supreme Court's ruling today that North Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Sinan has lost his parliamentary seat, former Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodhiq has expressed interest in running for the seat. 

The case against ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP Sinan was submitted to court by Ghalib Saleem, appealing to the court to rule that Sinan has lost his seat as he failed to pay back an MVR 2.5 million loan taken from the Maldives Islamic Bank as per the court ruling in October, 2024.   

The Supreme Court's five-judge bench ruled unanimously today that Sinan has lost his seat, finding that he failed to make the payments as required by the lower court ruling. 

After the ruling was announced, Sodhiq told Mihaaru News that he has always aimed to serve the public. He said he now hopes to expand that service through politics and is interested in seeking the MDP ticket for the now-vacant North Hithadhoo seat. 

"I have always been involved in politics. So I will always be looking for ways to move ahead in politics. In this vein, I am interested in contesting for the parliament seat," Sodhiq, who presently serves as MDP's Constituency President for Hithadhoo, said. 

Sodhiq served as Addu City Mayor for ten years, from 2011 to 2021. In the last MDP administration, Sodhiq served as a State Minister at the Planning Ministry. 

As per the law, if a parliamentary seat becomes vacant, candidacy applications for a by-election must be opened within five days.