Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has been named former President Abdulla Yameen's running mate.
Jameel was also Yameen's running mate in 2013 and currently serves as senior legal counsel to the opposition leader, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence.
Jameel's appointment as running mate was confirmed to Adhadhu by Yameen's campaign agent Mohamed Tholal, secretary general of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
After the pair won the 2013 election, Jameel served as Yameen's vice president for one year and eight months. Jameel was impeached on July 21, 2015 with the votes of 78 MPs in the PPM-majority parliament.
At the time, PPM MPs questioned Jameel's loyalty and accused him of conspiring with the opposition.
"So, did the vice president then want the presidency or not? I don't want to give the answer to that question. What I do know is that when the government faced its most difficult moment, the government and the president did not receive the cooperation of the vice president," Yameen said in October 2015 after Jameel was sacked.
Jameel characterized the impeachment as a "legal coup" to appoint then-tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb as vice president.
Adeeb, who was appointed after Jameel's impeachment, was vice president for three months and 14 days. He was arrested on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Yameen with a bomb on his speedboat and removed from the post.
Yameen's vice president after that was Abdulla Jihad, who had served as finance minister in Yameen's cabinet.
Living in exile in the UK, Jameel worked with the opposition to oust Yameen and co-founded an alliance called the Maldives United Opposition (MUO).
After Yameen left office, Jameel ran for parliament on the ticket of the Jumhooree Party (JP), which is part of the current governing coalition. But he came third in the Vilimale' constituency with only about 300 votes.
Jameel started working with the PPM after the parliamentary election defeat. When he was asked about the past, Jameel repeatedly said that the PPM's leadership has learned its lessons and knew who was loyal to the party.
"If PPM is to learn one big lesson, it has learned that lesson. That is that President Yameen is bearing the burden today because of depending on people who did not wish well for PPM, because of what Adeeb did [with the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations corruption scandal]," Jameel said.
Who is Jameel?
Jameel, who holds a PhD in criminal justice, previously served as a state attorney at the Attorney General's Office, chief judge of the Criminal Court and executive director at the justice ministry.
A lecturer in law at various Maldivian higher education institutions, Jameel's political career began with his appointment as justice minister on July 14, 2005 during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's administration.
In 2008, Jameel joined the opposition coalition formed against Gayoom's government. After President Mohamed Nasheed won the presidential election in 2008, Jameel was appointed as transport minister.
But Jameel left the post in the middle of the term and started working with the opposition. After working in the Qaumee Party of Dr. Hassan Saeed, he left the party and joined the PPM to become Yameen's running mate in 2013.
