Three candidates have applied to contest the by-election for the Parliament's Guraidhoo constituency seat.
The Guraidhoo seat became vacant on February 22 with the death of MP Ibrahim Riza, who passed away while seeking treatment for an intestinal ailment in Malaysia. According to Article 79 of the Constitution, a vacant Parliament seat must be filled within 60 days from the date the seat becomes vacant. Therefore, the Elections Commission has scheduled to hold the Guraidhoo by-election on April 15.
When the deadline to submit applications to contest the election expired, three candidates from three parties had applied to contest the election. The candidates are the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) 's Ibrahim Shaz, the opposing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) 's candidate and MP Riza's brother, Hussain Riza, and Maldivian National Party (MNP) 's Ali Arif.
All three candidates are from Guraidhoo, the largest island in the Guraidhoo constituency.
