Muizzu remains ‘hopeful’ Yameen can contest election

Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, mayor of Male’ city and presidential candidate for the People’s National Congress (PNC), states that it remains his greatest hope that the opposition leader, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom gets the chance to contest the upcoming presidential election.

Muizzu made the comment while speaking to the press after a vote taken by the PNC’s senate to decide the party’s candidate on Thursday.

PNC – the coalition partner of the main opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), decided to contest the upcoming election after the Elections Commission (EC) rejected the candidacy of PPM’s leader due to his criminal conviction for money laundering and bribery.

Yameen has contested the EC’s decision with the Supreme Court, and asked the coalition to produce a presidential candidate from PNC as a “backup.”

Muizzu won Thursday’s vote against Madduvari MP Adam Shareef Umar with a slim margin of 25-23.

He told reporters that the vote was taken to provide the opposition coalition with “a second option”, in a situation where Yameen is unable to contest the September 9 election.

Muizzu said he still hopes Yameen is able to qualify for the election, and asked the Supreme Court to make a fair decision at the hearing Friday.

“I pray that Yameen gets the chance to contest before August 7. Both parties are Yameen’s. The hope is that Yameen is able to contest, and we won’t have to,” he said.

Muizzu said the vote was treated out as “a patriotic duty that was carried out with a spirit of competitiveness and friendship.”

He thanked the members of the senate.

“We are one team. We can create a positive outcome if we work together as one team,” he said.

Both Adam Shareef and Muizzu had served as members of Yameen’s cabinet during his administration, with Muizzu serving as housing minister.

Muizzu had been PPM’s deputy leader, but switched to PNC on Thursday to enter the party’s presidential primary.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bribery in connection to the sale of V. Aarah for resort development on December 25, 2022.

The EC rejected Yameen’s candidacy due to his conviction, citing Article 109 (f) of the Constitution, which disqualifies candidates who have been sentenced to over 12 months in prison for a crime, unless it has been at least three years since they have completed their sentence or have been pardoned.

The PPM-PNC leadership had asked Yameen to select a presidential candidate from PNC at his own discretion thrice. However, he declined the request all three times, leaving it to the senate to decide.