Ruling People's National Congress (PNC) Chairperson and Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla stated last night that an increase in the number of candidates for PNC's internal election shows the interest the people have for the party.
In an interview to MMTV, Abdul Raheem said that during his time working for political parties with a conservative ideology starting from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), party matters were always designed by the leaders. However, he said that it can be seen that in PNC and even looking only at the party's congress, the party runs based on what the general members want.
While many people are running for various positions in PNC's congress, the internal election will see the President of the Youth Wing, Vice President, Secretary General and Treasurer be elected, with candidates running for the same positions for the Women's Wing as well.
Candidate figures for PNC's senate
- 73 candidates for the 18 general seats.
- 11 candidates for Vice President.
- 23 candidates for the 10 seats set aside for women.
- 13 candidates for the 7 seats set aside for youth.
"These figures show the strength of the democratic system within the party. That is why they are running. There are so many candidates because of the interest towards the party," said Abdul Raheem.
He went on to say that, in previous elections for conservative parties in the Maldives, the number of candidates had generally matched the number of positions available. He also said that while party leaders would indicate whom members should vote for, the process would be carried out through a specific arrangement.
“The list of people running for positions in the party will be released before the vote at the congress. This will be the list of people who should be elected. PNC has never had such a list,” said Abdul Raheem.
He continued by stating that in President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's capacity as PNC's President, Abdul Raheem had never seen a leader such as him who worked to strengthen the party.
Abdul Raheem said that the increase to the number of PNC members is proof of that, and highlighted that there are more than 77,000 PNC members.
"The proof of this is that when President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as president on 17th November 2023, the party only had 3,022 members as I recall. And while we are running for the upper council, we have more than 77,000 members," Abdul Raheem said.
According to Abdul Raheem, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had the same ideology when they were in office but the number of their members did not drastically increase. He said that even the DRP did not see such a fast climb in member numbers, and that MDP did not see such an increase either when they were in office.
