Former President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed Dr. Musthafa Luthfy, the former Chancellor of the Maldives National University, as his running mate for the September presidential elections.
Sun is aware that Nasheed’s candidacy forms have been submitted to the courts for approval and that they states Dr. Musthafa Luthfee as his running mate.
An official from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that following the approval from the courts, the forms will then be submitted to the Elections Commission.
The constitution requires a presidential candidate to be a Maldivian citizen born to Maldivian parents and states that the person cannot hold citizenship in foreign country. The person is also required to be a Muslim and a follower of a Sunni school of Islam, be at least 35 years of age, be of sound mind and to not have an undischarged decreed debt.
Elections Commission has declared that the same criteria applies to vice presidential candidates.
The Commission has called for candidates to submit their applications within a 10-day period - from the 14th of July 2013, until 14:00 hours of Wednesday, the 24th of July 2013.
The Commission also requires the presidential and vice presidential candidates’ criminal records to be obtained from the Supreme Court and the High Court, and information related to debts and criminal records to also be obtained from the Department of Judicial Administration and the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service.
The candidates should also provide a cash deposit of MVR 40,000 to the Commission.
The voting for the presidential election has been scheduled for the 7th of September 2013 from 07:30 until 16:00, and counting will begin 30 minutes after the voting ends.
The final results of the election would be announced on the 14th of September.