The Supreme Court has upheld the candidacy rejection of jailed former President Abdulla Yameen.
The hearing to issue the ruling began at 10 pm on Sunday.
Yameen's candidacy for the September presidential election was rejected by the Elections Commission (EC) because he is serving a prison sentence.
The opposition leader is in jail for a bribery conviction related to the lease of Vaavu Aarah in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
Yameen challenged the EC decision at the Supreme Court and arguments were heard on Friday.
According to the constitution, if a presidential candidate has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of more than 12 months, three years must have elapsed since his release or pardon.
Some lawyers believe that a constitutional case could be filed at the Supreme Court to interpret the sentence referred to in the provision as the final judgment after the appeal process is completed.
Yameen's lawyers argue that he is eligible to contest as the appeal process has not been completed in the Aarah bribery conviction. They also claimed that it is his right, under the constitution, to be able to contest elections.
But the full bench of the apex court unanimously declared that Yameen is ineligible to contest the presidential election because of his prison sentence.
Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan, who presided over the hearing, announced the upholding of the EC's decision to reject Yameen's candidacy.
The court also denied an order to grant more time for the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to nominate an alternative candidate.
The deadline to file candidacy papers end at 2 pm Monday. The opposition has not made any comments following the court ruling.
