The main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), and the opposition coalition consisting of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC) have announced their intention to contest all seats in the upcoming parliamentary election.
MDP has begun preparing for the parliamentary election to be held next year. The Parliament consisted of 65 MDP members but the number was reduced to 55 after some members switched to the newly formed The Democrats party this year. The main ruling party still holds the majority in Parliament.
Additionally, MDP has announced its intention to switch its focus to an opposition party that will hold the government accountable, after losing the presidential election. As such, members have been appointed to chair many parliamentary committees.
Moreover, the PPM/PNC coalition stated that it will be contesting all parliamentary seats in order to better represent the new government. The Maldives National Party (MNP) has also been included in the coalition but no announcement has been made regarding which seats the individual parties will be contesting. The coalition stated that it will soon begin holding discussions regarding the election and that the coalition parties will together contest all the seats.
With MNP, the PPM/PNC coalition consists of 10 parliamentary representatives, which are four PPM members, four PNC members, and two MNP members. The coalition is expected to capitalise on the presidential election win by gaining more seats in the Parliament next year.
The parliamentary election will be held in March or April next year. Six new seats will also be added due to the change in local populations, increasing the current 87 seats to 93.