The Democrats has decided not to support any candidate in the second round of the presidential election.
The Democrats said in a statement today that both the PPM-PNC coalition and the main-ruling MDP had failed to meet the conditions for an alliance, as set during the party's interim council meeting on September 18. While the deadline for a decision has passed without agreement, the Democrats have chosen not to back any candidate for the second round, the statement read.
At its council meeting, The Democrats set separate conditions for PPM-PNC and MDP. A resolution moved by Council member Mohamed Shifa set conditions for PPM-PNC to agree to allocate government positions for the Democrats, implementing certain Democrats' policies under their rule, and signing the agreement before September 20. The condition for the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was agreeing to a referendum on changing the government system from presidential to parliamentary, which must take place before the 28th of this month, ahead of the second round of voting. The resolution also proposed that the Democrats would not support any candidate if neither candidate agrees to their terms. The resolution was passed with approval from the majority of 50 members present during the meeting.
