Two close associates of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih have met with Jumhooree Party Leader Qasim Ibrahim.
The meeting held at Sun Island Resort was attended by the main-ruling MDP's Parliamentary Group Leader and Hithadhoo North MP Mohamed Aslam and Hulhumale' MP and President Solih's younger brother, Ali Niyaz.
While no details of the discussions between the two parties have been disclosed, they were reportedly in talks to form a coalition between MDP and JP.
On February 15, the MDP National Assembly passed a resolution giving the MDP presidential candidate, President Solih, the power to decide if he wants to form a coalition in the upcoming presidential election. The MDP presidential ticket was officially handed over to President Solih at a rally held at Carnival area in Male' City on February 17.
Meanwhile, associates of MDP's President and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, who was defeated in MDP's Presidential Primary, met with Qasim in Sun Island earlier this month. Following his defeat in the Primaryprimary, Nasheed had said he would not support President Solih and has been running a separate political movement within the party under the slogan "Fikuregge Dhirun", the same slogan he used in his MDP primary campaign.
