President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has met with members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) National Council ahead of his campaign in the primary election.
Around 120 of the 167 national council members attended the meeting and pledged their support to President Solih. They include Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Defence Mariya Ahmed Didi, Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali, and Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer. During the meeting, President Solih asked his supporters to help his campaign by holding political activities and meeting MDP members, and asking for their support.
The main ruling MDP has opened the opportunity for members to submit their candidacy for the primary election to be held on January 28. Interested members are required to submit their candidacy with signatures of 500 supporters by December 24.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has already expressed interest in running in the 2023 presidential election with the party’s ticket. Speaker of Parliament and President of MDP Mohamed Nasheed has also announced his candidacy for the primary election.
MDP is the main ruling party and has 58,175 registered members, making it the most popular party in the Maldives. The main opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has awarded its ticket to former President Abdulla Yameen and Maldives National Party (MNP) has awarded its ticket to its President Mohamed Nazim.