Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Abdulla, on Tuesday, officially signed as a member of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The parliamentarian handed over the documents to join MDP, the largest party in the ruling coalition, to the party’s Chairperson Hassan Latheef and former President Mohamed Nasheed in a meeting at the latter’s residence.
Mohamed revealed to local media outlet Mihaaru that he had entertained thoughts of joining MDP for a long time.
With parliamentary elections slated for March of the upcoming year, Mohamed Abdulla has expressed hopes of being re-elected to the constituency of Ihavandhoo as a parliamentarian of MDP.
While it is not yet guaranteed that he will be the MDP candidate for the constituency of Ihavandhoo, he plans to contest in MDP's primary election held by the party to make this decision.
Mohamed expressed optimism about his chances of success in the primary, stating that other MDP parliamentarians of Ihavandhoo recognized his contributions.
Although initially elected to parliament as a member of Jumhooree Party (JP), he had joined the former ruling party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), in 2014.
PPM expelled him in 2017 over signing the resolution seeking a motion of no confidence against former Parliament Speaker Abdulla Maseeh.
Mohamed Abdulla was among 12 lawmakers ousted from parliament by the Elections Commission (EC) over the Supreme Court's controversial anti-defection ruling last year, which stated that any lawmaker who resigned or was dismissed after July 13, 2017 from the political party they were registered at during the time of their election to parliament, would lose their seat by default.
The Supreme Court overturned the decision to disqualify Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Abdulla, along with the 11 other lawmakers, on October 31.
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