The Democrats have stated that discussions are ongoing exclusively with the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for collaboration in the second round of the presidential election revealing discussions with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) are on halt.
The second round of the presidential election is scheduled to be held on September 30 as none of the candidates received 50% of the votes to win in the first round. The two candidates who moved on to the second round are Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the candidate of the opposition People's National Congress (PNC), and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the candidate of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Both candidates are now exploring coalition possibilities with political parties and candidates who did not advance from the first round.
During a press conference, Interim Chairperson of the Democrats Hassan Latheef revealed that discussions have taken place with both MDP and the People's National Congress (PNC). He, however, clarified that no agreement has been reached in the talks with PNC and expressed concerns about the viability of collaboration without a systemic voting agreement.
The Democrats are also engaging in discussions with MDP and have proposed a systemic vote on September 25, preceding the second round of this year's presidential election. The vote aims to gauge public sentiment on transitioning the Maldives from a presidential system to a parliamentary one.
Both presidential candidates are vying for the support of The Democrats to secure victory in the second round. Ilyas Labeeb, the presidential candidate of The Democrats, secured the third position among the eight candidates who participated in the presidential election, receiving 7.18% or 15,000 votes.