Faris Maumoon, president of the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), has submitted his form to contest in a primary to elect the party's presidential candidate.
MRM announced in a tweet today that Faris will stand in the primary. It is unclear if anyone other than Faris will be contesting.
The conditions for the candidate contesting on the MRM ticket in the presidential election include being a member of the party for one year, signing and submitting the party's decree and meeting the criteria set by the Elections Commission (EC).
The application to contest in the MRM primary is the form to request contesting in the election on the MRM ticket. The primary will be held next Monday, the party said. Voting is due to take place online.
The MRM announced today that the party rejected President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's invitation to form a coalition with the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Adhadhu has confirmed that Faris tried to collect signatures to contest in the presidential election as an independent candidate before the MRM primary was announced. It was seen as a contingency plan if the MRM is unable to field a candidate.
The EC decided to dissolve the MRM after the party failed to reach the minimum number of members required by law. But the EC was unable to say that the party cannot field a presidential candidate.
“MRM has filed a case in court saying it will not accept the commission's decision to dissolve the party. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether a presidential candidate can or cannot contest from MRM until the court decides,” EC Secretary General Hassan Zakariya said.
Faris and his father, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, criticized the EC's decision to dissolve the party as unlawful.
The MRM says the party submitted enough membership forms during the period offered by the EC to reach 3000 members.
The Civil Court issued an order on June 28 to halt MRM's dissolution and gave 30 days to file a case to annul the EC decision.
