Election Commission of the Maldives has opened the opportunity to nominate candidates for this year’s presidential election.
The Election Commission announced that the opportunity to nominate candidates for the presidential election will be open from 9:00 am on Sunday, July 23 to 2:00 pm on Monday, August 7.
Application forms and materials for the Presidential Election should be submitted to the Election Centre.
The Election Commission will accept these items from Sunday, July 23 to Monday, August 7 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm every day except Sunday. Applications will be accepted on Friday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
The Constitution stipulates the requirements for a candidate for the post of President and Vice-President to be:
- be a Maldivian citizen born to a Maldivian mother and a Maldivian father and not be a citizen of a foreign country;
- be a Muslim and a member of the Sunni community;
- be a person who has attained the age of thirty-five years;
- be of sound mind;
- If he has a proven debt to be paid, he shall not be an unpaid debtor;
- a person who has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of more than twelve months, three years after the completion of the execution of the sentence or the pardon of the sentence imposed;
- Notwithstanding sub-paragraph (g) of this Part, the person shall not have been convicted of an offence prescribed in Islam or an offence of fraud, taxation or treason.
All candidates are required to pay an administrative fee of MVR 100,000.
The Election Commission has decided to hold the presidential election on September 9. The official results will be announced before the 15th of that month.
Four parties have so far handed over their presidential tickets and started campaigning.
They are MDP candidate President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, PPM candidate former President Abdullah Yameen, JP candidate Qasim Ibrahim and MNP candidate Mohammed Nazim.
Meanwhile, The Democrats have opened the presidential primary for the party. Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb has expressed interest in contesting the presidential primary.
Former Home Minister Umar Naseer has also launched his campaign to contest as an independent candidate.
Of these, Yameen has lost a condition to contest the presidential election. Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in jail by the Criminal Court after being convicted of money laundering and accepting bribes.
He was fined USD 5 million and ordered to pay the money within six months. The appeal hearings in the High Court are now nearing completion.
Yameen has also been charged in the Fuggiri case involving the MMPRC scam. Yameen was charged with accepting bribes and money laundering. The trials are currently pending in the Criminal Court.
However, the party has said that he will submit his candidacy form. If the case is not accepted, it will appeal to the Supreme Court.
