North Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem and former MP Alhan Fahmy have announced that they will be contesting against former President Mohamed Nasheed for the post of Chairperson at Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Meekail and Alhan have both commenced campaigning for the post. Meekail announced his intention to run for the post even ahead of Nasheed revealing his interest to do the same.
Meekail has previously said that MDP's main target must be winning the 2028 presidential election. He said that to achieve this, the most important thing the party has to do now is regain the lost public trust and establish unity within it.
This, he said, can only be achieved through electing a leader who will raise the interests of the party's general members above that of individuals and leaders.
Meekail said it can be done through electing someone who will lead the party with absolute fairness, showing no favour or bias towards anyone.
"Without forever clinging to the same faces, same ideology in running the party, MDP's leadership must grant the opportunity to the new generation of youth," Meekail stated in a video message he earlier shared on social media announcing his candidacy.
Alhan, meanwhile, announced his decision to run for the post on social media yesterday, with the tagline "Let's make MDP democratic again!".
"MDP needs to be reverse course to return to the path of democracy," Alhan wrote.
Nasheed announced his intention to run for the post of Chairperson in a press conference titled 'Bodu Badhalu' [Big Change] held this Sunday. He further endorsed former MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail as the candidate for the 'Head of Government' in 2028.
At the press conference, Nasheed and Fayyaz proposed major changes to the governing system in the Maldives. The key change proposed is establishing two distinct roles for 'Head of Government' and 'Head of State'.
As per the hybrid-governance system they proposed, the Head of Government is to be elected through popular vote, while the Head of State is to be elected through a vote amongst members of parliament and councils.
Nasheed announced that he is interested in serving as Head of State.
