Candidate numbers for MDP primary: Nasheed No. 1, President Solih No. 2

Main ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has announced the candidate numbers of the two leaders contesting in the part’s presidential primary scheduled for January 28^th.

While the deadline to file candidacy applications for the primary expired on last Saturday – only MDP’s leader, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih submitted applications.

MDP said that a draw was taken on Monday, to allocate candidate numbers for both candidates;

• Candidate No. 1: Nasheed
• Candidate No. 2: President Solih

A five-member Elections Committee was elected by MDP’s National Council on Monday night, as mandated by the party’s constitution to oversee the primary.

MDP’s primary comes at a time the party remains divided into two factions; one rallying behind Nasheed whilst the other rally behind President Solih.

The conflict between the two party leaders was promoted by their differences in opinion in changing the governance system of the Maldives. Whilst Nasheed supports a parliamentary system and wishes to change the system of governance – President Solih has explicitly expressed support for the existing presidential system.