Yameen slams decision against boycotting the election

Opposition leader, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom has slammed the decision by the opposition PPM-PNC coalition against boycotting the presidential election slated for September 9^th.

A senior official from the opposition coalition has confirmed Yameen’s response to the decision the senate made earlier this evening. His refusal to accept the senate's decision was relayed during a phone call to his wife, Fathimath Ibrahim.

Yameen stands firm on his stand to boycott the election.

Yameen, PPM’s presidential candidate, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bribery charges in connection to the sale of V. Aarah for resort development on December 25, 2022.

Despite his imprisonment, he submitted his candidacy for the September 9 election last week.

The EC rejected Yameen’s candidacy due to his conviction, citing Article 109 (f) of the Constitution, which disqualifies candidates who have been sentenced to over 12 months in prison for a crime, unless it has been at least three years since they have completed their sentence or have been pardoned.

He contested the decision with the Supreme Court, which ruled on Sunday morning that the EC was right to declare the opposition leader ineligible to contest the election.

Following his unsuccessful attempt to have EC’s decision to reject his candidacy revoked, Yameen reportedly sent a note, instructing the PPM-PNC leadership to consider boycotting the election, citing his rights have been infringed.

The leadership convened for an emergency meeting to discuss the instruction, and decided to put the matter to the vote of the joint senate.

45 senators voted in favor of boycotting the election, while 67 senators voted against it.

Sun has learned that a meeting of the opposition coalition’s leadership is presently ongoing, which will decide how the coalition will proceed further.

PPM, has expressed their wish to produce an alternative candidate to Yameen, who they initially awarded the presidential ticket of the party. However, the party has not yet decided to support Male’ Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who is PNC’s candidate.

Based on the outcome of the meeting presently underway, PNC’s ticket will be presented to Muizzu tomorrow.

Muizzu has chosen Faresmaathoda MP Hussain Mohamed Latheef as his running mate.

While the internal turmoil within the opposition PPM-PNC coalitions continues to deepen, the deadline for candidacy submission for the election is set to expire at 2:00pm tomorrow.