The ruling coalition of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People's National Congress (PNC) has postponed the parliamentary primary election to January 20.
The ruling coalition stated that that it changed the date of the primary election from December 23 after receiving numerous requests from candidates and party members as it was during the school holidays, and many citizens will be travelling abroad. Therefore, the names of the eligible candidates will be announced next week and the voters list and the time of polling will also be announced.
The ruling coalition has received 354 applications for the primary election leading up to the 2024 parliamentary election. The primary election to choose candidates who will be contesting 93 parliamentary seats. The coalition stated that primaries will be held in all constituencies except for 10, where the members stood as the sole candidates. As such, tickets for these 10 constituencies have been assured for the candidates running unopposed. The coalition added that the number might increase as more candidates withdraw their names.