316 apply for Parliamentary Election

Elections Commission has said that 316 people have applied to contest the Parliamentary Election scheduled for 22 March.

In an interview earlier today, Director General of Elections Commission Mohamed Shakeel told Sun Online that the deadline for submitting forms to contest the 18th Parliamentary Election was 4:00 p.m. today.

He said that 183 forms have been submitted by political parties, and 133 forms have been submitted by independent candidates.

Shakeel said that Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had submitted 85 forms, while Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had submitted 50 forms, Jumhooree Party 28 forms, Adhaalath Party 13 forms, and Maldives Development Alliance 7 forms.

He said that the candidacies will be confirmed over the next two days, and lots will be drawn on Thursday to determine candidate order on ballot papers.