President Solih picks Aslam as running mate

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has picked the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s top lawmaker, Mohamed Aslam as his running mate, as he seeks to get re-elected for a second term in office.

MDP’s spokesperson Anas Abdul Sattar made the announcement in a tweet on Saturday morning.

Aslam is the leader of the MDP parliamentary group – which holds a supermajority at the parliament.

The North Hithadhoo MP is also the longest-serving lawmaker within the party’s PG. He was part of the parliamentary assembly that drafted the new constitution, and has been a member of all parliamentary assemblies elected since then.

Aslam had also been tipped to become the next speaker of Parliament, once the no-confidence motion against the incumbent speaker, former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed goes through.

The race to become President Solih’s running mate had been seen as a fight between Aslam, foreign minister Abdulla Shahid, and the incumbent vice president Faisal Naseem.

Speaking to reporters last week, President Solih admitted he was having a hard time deciding on a running mate.

He said that he had some good choices – both in his current VP Faisal, and from within his own party.

The selection of a running mate comes with less than three days left before the deadline for filing candidacy.

He said he would finalize his decision after consulting with MDP’s coalition partners – the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Adhaalath Party (AP).