Jumhooree Party (JP) has revealed it has not decided to contest for all 87 constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections. JP, a government coalition party, made the statement following rumours the party will contest for all the parliament seats in the elections scheduled to be held on April 6.
Further, the President of the main party in the coalition, Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Nasheed welcomed the decision of JP to contest for all the constituencies, adding it will definitely strengthen efforts to establish a democratic mechanism in the country. MDP had already declared it will contest for 86 constituencies, with parliamentary primaries scheduled for next month.
However, speaking to PSM News, Spokesperson of JP Ali Solih said the party council had not decided to contest for all the constituencies. Solih elaborated no decision was made on the constituencies to compete in the elections. Rather, he revealed opportunity was opened for its members to declare interest to compete in the elections. The decision was made to identify the interested candidates who wish to compete for parliament from a slot of JP, according to the spokesperson.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has held meetings with the coalition leaders to find a way forward in competing in the parliamentary elections as a coalition.