As campaign activities have ended, preparations for the by-election for the North Hithadhoo constituency on Saturday have concluded.
Ahmed Saeed (Soda) will be running under ruling party People's National Congress's (PNC) ticket for the by-election, with Addu's former mayor Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe) running under the Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) ticket.
Both parties are conducting competitive campaign activities in the constituency.
PNC has stated that since the Supreme Court ruled that PNC member Ahmed Sinan lost his seat due to a loan case, winning the by-election and defending the seat is PNC's biggest focus currently.
And so, Speaker of the Parliament Abdul Raheem Abdulla, various ministers and some PNC Parliament members have gone to Addu many times over and have conducted door-to-door campaigns in North Hithadhoo. Saeed's campaign manager Sports Minister Abdulla Rafiu and Fisheries Minister Ahmed Shiyam have also gone to the North Hithadhoo constituency and worked to gather votes for Saeed. Minister Rafiu is currently in Addu for the campaign.
Sodiq's campaign efforts are moving forward as well. In order to build support for Sodiq, former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Interim Chairperson and Hanimaadhoo Constituency MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa and party leadership members are currently in Addu. Earlier today, former President Mohamed Nasheed arrived in Addu to take part in the campaign as well.
A campaign rally has been scheduled for tonight at the Hithadhoo School where former Presidents Nasheed and Solih will be taking part.
Senior officials of the PNC and MDP's Addu team are conducting door-to-door campaign activities in the North Hithadhoo constituency, along with neighborhood campaign rallies being conducted as well.
The by-election will begin on Saturday, 8:00am with seven ballot boxes. According to the voter list publicized by the Elections Commission (EC), the constituency has 4,120 people who are eligible.
The North Hithadhoo constituency seat was won by PNC member Mohamed Sinan during the previous Parliamentary Election. However, he lost his seat as he and another individual failed to pay back an MVR 2.5 million loan taken from the Maldives Islamic Bank as per the court ruling in October, 2024.
According to PNC, Sinan is not running in this election as he wants to devote more time to his family. Even though Sinan won the party's primary ticket, he has since relinquished the ticket in support of Saeed.
