The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has expressed objection to a magazine article that made a claim about their leader, former president Abdulla Yameen, not participating in the upcoming presidential election.
The headline, featured in Ocean Weekly, a weekly magazine associated with Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, stated that neither Nasheed nor Yameen would be contenders in the election, and instead, a coalition candidate would be nominated. The headline was published while the Nasheed-led Democrats party and the PPM-PNC coalition are actively engaged in formal talks to form a political alliance for the upcoming election.
In response to the headline, PPM's Vice President and Naifaru MP Ahmed Shiyam said Yameen is the PPM's presidential candidate and that his candidacy papers would be the first to be submitted when application open on July 23 to contest the presidential election.
Meanwhile, the PPM's Senate has called upon the party leadership to issue an official statement condemning the headline.
