The main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said the party has not yet decided on a date to hold the party's presidential primary to determine their candidate for the upcoming Presidential Election.
MDP made the statement in response to the state media citing a party official and reporting that the party has scheduled its primary for October.
An MDP official said the party's Chairperson would make important decisions on matters such as internal elections. The official said that no decision had yet been taken on the date of the MDP presidential primary. As soon as a date is decided, the information will be shared with the journalists, he said.
"As such news [regarding the primary] was published in the state media, I have also looked into it. Neither the party Chairperson nor the Deputy Chairperson was aware of it. The Chairperson said that no date had been given to any party regarding the date of the presidential primary," the official said.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed have expressed interest in contesting the party primary thus far.
While political parties have begun preparations for next year's election, the only candidate to have secured a presidential ticket so far is former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom. The opposition coalition, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), and the Peoples' National Congress (PNC) handed over their presidential ticket to President Yameen on August 19. While Jumhooree Party (JP) and the Maldives National Party (MNP) will also be putting forward candidates, they have not yet handed over the tickets to their candidates.
In addition, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) have also said they will contest the election.
The Election Commission last week said that next year's presidential election would cost MVR 120 million. However, the commission has not yet announced the date of the election.
