President acknowledges difficulty of having two PPM/PNC candidates in some constituencies, vows resolution efforts

Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the President and leader of the People’s National Congress party (PNC), expressed that there are difficulties in the decisions made to endorse other candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections, despite another candidate having won the PPM (Progressive Party of the Maldives)/PNC (People's National Congress) ticket. He assured that he will work towards finding a solution for the issue in the coming days.

After the PPM/PNC tickets for parliamentary elections were won by specific candidates, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and some coalition leaders have been displaying support for a different candidate than who won the ticket in some constituencies. Consequently, the candidates who officially received tickets for these constituencies are now campaigning and running for the election separately. This has caused confusion amongst some of the PPM/PNC candidates for a while.

In an exclusive interview with ‘Mihaaru’ last Wednesday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu acknowledged that there were issues in approximately 10 out of 93 constituencies which he described as a “challenge”.

"There are some confusing instances like that. That, definitely is a challenge, and it makes me concerned that it may result in us being unable to win those seats. We will be working to try and solve that in the coming month," he said.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu stated that the issues could be resolved in some constituencies in the upcoming days.

He explained that despite being given the PPM/PNC ticket, the government supported other candidates because the majority of PPM/PNC members deemed it to be the ideal choice for particular constituencies.

"These things have not gone in the most ideal ways. There are allegations of some actions against regulations during the primaries, and these have been looked into. But that was in very few places," he said.

"The one thing we want to ensure is, that no one will receive anything through irregular means," the President assured.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu elaborated that, generally, the tickets were given to candidates who won the primaries and that there should be no concerns arising in the majority of the constituencies.

He expressed hope that PPM/PNC would get a super majority in this year’s parliamentary elections.