Dr. Muizzu's government will include The Democrats: Hassan Latheef

Founder of The Democrats Hassan Latheef has said the new government formed by president-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu will include The Democrats.

Hassan Latheef made this statement on a post he published on X after the presidential candidate of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) Dr. Muizzu won the second round of the presidential election held on Saturday.

Speaker of parliament and lead member of The Democrats Mohamed Nasheed liked Hassan Latheef's X post. Hassan could not be reached for further comment as he did not answer his phone.

PPM/PNC has indicated that there have been no discussions with The Democrats about their role in Dr. Muizzu's government.

Presidential candidate of The Democrats, Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb secured the third highest number of votes in the first round of elections with a total of 15,000 votes. The party however decided remain neutral during the second round.

Some of the lead members of The Democrats and its branches supported Dr. Muizzu in the second round.

The Democrats was formed by former leading members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after differences of opinion within the party. Nasheed who was instrumental in the formation of The Democrats has now indicated that he was interested in rejoining the MDP.

The Democrats is strongly advocating to change the system of government to a parliamentary system. While this work is being done from within the parliament, after Saturday's election, many MDP members have expressed that they are opposed to this change.

MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail said that he would not support the parliamentary system and that the recently elected Dr. Muizzu should be given the opportunity to form his government. It's worth noting that the PPM/PNC also does not support the parliamentary system.

Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim posted on X, stating that it would be irresponsible to take a vote to change the system of government just after the people have elected a new President.

President Ibrahim Mohamed has expressed his support for the presidential system of government while responding to a question from journalist at the press conference held on Monday.