Dr. Ashraf given MDP ticket to contest Ungoofaaru seat

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has given its ticket to contest for the vacated parliamentary seat of Raa Atoll Ungoofaaru Constituency to Dr. Ahmed Ashraf Ali.

Dr. Ashraf also contested for the seat as an MDP candidate in 2009, when the general elections for the current term of the parliament were conducted. However Dr. Afrasheem Ali of the Divehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) beat Dr. Ashraf to win the seat back then.

Dr. Afrasheem Ali, the only Islamic religious scholar sitting in the Parliement, was brutally assassinated on the 1st of this month, and the seat has thus become vacant.

MDP today said that only Dr. Ashraf applied for the party ticket to contest for Ungoofaaru seat.

Dr. Ashraf previously served as Administrator of Hulhumalé Hospital, and now works at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Elections Commission of the Maldives has announced that the by-election for Ungoofaaru Constituency would be held on the 1st of coming December.

The Progressive Party of the Maldives, the party to which Dr. Afrasheem later belonged, has announced that it was “considering the possibility of giving party ticket to a family member of the Dr. Afrasheem”. However, PPM has not yet made a final decision on a candidate.