The Elections Commission (EC) today accepted the candidacy of The Democrats' presidential candidate Ilyas Labeeb after his campaign agent Fathmath Niuma was shown to be free of a decreed debt.
After Ilyas' form was submitted yesterday, the EC informed The Democrats that a document was missing. While the EC did not reveal which document was missing, Adhadhu has learned that it was a bank declaration to prove that Niuma is debt-free.
EC Vice President Ismail Habeeb said in a tweet that the commission has decided that Ilyas is eligible to contest after checking the completed information in the form.
"The Elections Commission accepted the submission this morning after determining that Ilyas Labeeb meets the criteria for the presidential election," Habeeb tweeted.
Shortly before Ilyas submitted his candidacy papers on Sunday morning, Hussain Amr was announced as his running mate. Amr had been sacked as managing director of the State Trading Organization (STO) for working against the government whilst holding the political post.
The Democrats was formed by supporters of Speaker Mohamed Nasheed after he lost the Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) primary on January 28. Nasheed's loyalists left the MDP after the party moved to expel anti-government members.
Other candidates in the September 9 presidential election are President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as the MDP candidate, Qasim Ibrahim from the Jumhooree Party (JP), Dr. Mohamed Muizzu from the People's National Congress (PNC), Mohamed Nazim from the Maldives National Party (MNP), Faris Maumoon from the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) and former home minister Umar Naseer as an independent candidate.
