MDP's ticket to contest in the by-election held following the Local Government Authority's (LGA) decision that V. Thinadhoo Council President Ali Shujau lost his seat has been awarded to him.

The LGA decided that he had lost his seat on July 19.

Shujau told "Mihaaru News" that when applications were opened for the internal primary to determine MDP's candidate, he was the sole applicant. Therefore, without holding an additional primary, the MDP ticket was awarded to Shujau.

It is reported that the Thinadhoo election is scheduled to be held on the 28th of next month. The opportunity to apply for the election has been opened until 2:00 PM on the 26th of this month.

In the council election, Shujau was elected to the presidency of the Thinadhoo Council from The Democrats. He later joined MDP.

The Decentralization Act states that after being elected to a council on a political party's ticket, becoming a member of another party during the elected term will result in the loss of the position.

Therefore, at an LGA board meeting on June 30, it was decided to determine that Shujau had been removed from the position of Thinadhoo Council President and to notify the EC that the seat had become vacant.

When it was decided in that case that Shujau had lost his seat, he had been under suspension since June until the LGA reached a specific decision. Management of the council was handed over to the Vice President.

Shujau previously said he joined the MDP after the Elections Commission informed The Democrats’ leadership on 23 April that the party had been dissolved.

Shujau said that although he was elected from The Democrats, the EC informed that the party was dissolved prior to taking the oath of office in May. Therefore, he stated he does not believe it can be interpreted that he left one party to join another.