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Pres Solih reiterates importance of an MDP majority in parliament

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has reiterated the importance of obtaining ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) majority for the 19th parliament.

In his address at the official launching of the parliamentary campaigns of MDP, President Solih said on Friday night that the legal framework of the country will be composed by the parliament, and emphasized that a MDP majority is necessary for easier fulfillment of pledges of the incumbent government.

"Ensuring a pro-government parliament is of utmost importance; the most important role of the parliament can be [only] be filled by MDP", said the President.

The assistance and contribution of elected MDP representatives in the parliament is vital to achieve the the targets of the MDP manifesto, stressed the President.

President Solih further noted that MDP is the most promising political party, and that the arty will remain persistent in their efforts despite any challenges faced. The incidents of the past few years has demonstrated the party's commitment.

"At the time of the recent party primaries, party membership had increased to 86,086. 60,031 members voted in the primaries. Ballot boxes were placed at 187 islands and 3 foreign countries. I believe The primaries were executed in a perfect example of democracy", highlighted the president.

The primary has also proven that a young and energetic generation of youthful political leaders are with the party, and consoled that although some contestants suffered a defeat in the election, the whole primary in gemeral was a success for all participants.

He added that while he has spent 25 years as a member of the parliament, many positive ad hopeful changes have been seen within the parliament despite several challenges and issues faced.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had previously stated that it is imperative for main-ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), backing MDP leader former President Mohamed Nasheed on his stance that an MDP majority is the way forward.

President Solih said that the success of the current government in the 2018 presidential election is largely owed to MDP and the efforts undertaken by its members. A new government was elected with a lot of hopes and dreams, therefore, it is necessary to achieve parliament majority in order to ensure that the visions of the government for the country are fulfilled, said the President.

The coalition parties had previously agreed to contest both the parliamentary election and the local council elections through the coalition in order to ensure maximum number of seats.

According to the original agreement, main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will contest for 35 seats while Jumhoory Party, Maumoon Reform Movement and Adhaalath Party will contest for 22, 17 and 13 seats respectively.

However, MDP decided at its National Council to contest for all 87 constituencies in the parliamentary election, despite the existing coalition agreement to divide up the seats among themselves.

The four leaders of the coalition have sat down several times with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in attempt to resolve the dispute. However, an agreement has not been reached thus far.

MDP led by former president Mohamed Nasheed has continues to deny the existence of such an agreement with the main ruling party moving ahead with plans to secure parliament majority.