Spokesperson: The Democrats will be ready for presidential election

The spokesperson for The Democrats, which has received approval from the Elections Commission (EC) to form as a political party, said Wednesday that the party will be ready to run in the upcoming presidential election.

The new party is being formed by a faction which broke from the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).  The faction, loyal to MDP’s leader Mohamed Nasheed, received the greenlight from EC to form as a political party earlier Wednesday.

In a press conference Wednesday, The Democrats’ spokesperson Afshan Latheef said the party will submit the 3,000 membership forms they need to officially register as a political party, soon.

She said the party will also elect a leadership and pick a presidential candidate well ahead of the given timeline.

“We have plenty of time. I don’t believe we will have any trouble following EC’s timeline,” she said.

The Democrats will need to submit the name of their presidential candidate between July 23-August 3.

The presidential election will be held on September 9.

Afshan said the party has plenty of members experienced in running election campaigns. She said the party will be ready for the election.