Political parties have expressed they are not interested in forming a coalition with Jumhooree Party (JP) for the upcoming presidential election.
JP has sent invitations to the main opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), the Maldives National Party (MNP), and the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) as well as former Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer, and former Attorney General (AG) Dr. Mohamed Munavvaru who plans to contest the election as an independent candidate. Every party and individual except MRM has responded by expressing their unwillingness to be subordinate to JP. In addition, PPM and MNP have called on JP to support their own election bids while Dr. Munavvaru said he decided to be an independent candidate to avoid joining coalitions, which are harmful to the country.
JP decided to field a candidate and lead its own coalition for the presidential election at a time when President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih invited the party to rejoin the ruling government coalition. JP has so far held discussions on forming a coalition with Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, who lost to President Solih in the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary election. JP has decided to award its presidential ticket to its Leader Qasim Ibrahim, who had contested the 2008 and 2013 presidential elections but did not garner enough votes to reach the second round in either election.
MDP has already secured the support of the Adhaalath Party (AP) and the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) for the presidential election scheduled to be held on September 9.