Opposing Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) will officially kick off their campaign for the upcoming local council election next Friday.
Speaking at a news conference held Saturday, the party's Vice President Ibrahim Sujau said the party's campaign will be launched at a special rally on Friday. The party is heavily preparing for the election, he said.
"We haven't prepared this well for an election to date. Our campaign launching rally itself will be phenomenal," said Sujau.
PPM said although the campaign will be officially launched on Friday, teams from the PPM-PNC coalition will be traveling to the atolls from as early as Tuesday. A special trip to Addu City will take place from 24 - 27 February, he said.
Senior officials from the PPM-PNC coalition will campaign for party candidates contesting for all major islands and cities, he further revealed.
PPM's sister party, Peoples' National Congress (PNC)'s President and former Fonadhoo MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla said PPM received a tremendous response from party members when they opened application for the council election. 675 candidates from PPM will be contesting in the local council election slated for April 4, said Abdul Raheem.
Abdul Raheem said the fact that such a large number of interested applicants requested for party tickets while the party's leader Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, who was recently convicted on money laundering charges, has been jailed attests to the fact that the former president is still largely popular in the Maldives. This further shows how much the party members wish for their leader to be freed, he said.
Abdul Raheem called on all citizens of Maldives to vote for PPM in the council election. The election is a golden opportunity to liberate the country from its current circumstance, said Abdul Raheem.
