Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s son Faris Maumoon on Monday announced his candidacy for the Machchangoalhi North constituency in parliament.
Faris, who contested as an independent candidate in the presidential election, said in a social media post that he was contesting because of parliament’s importance in reforming the country.
“Given the importance of the People’s Majlis in reforming the country, I would like to inform the beloved citizens of Machchangoalhi North of my intention to contest for the seat in the next election with the grace of God,” he said.
Faris ran for the Machchangoalhi North seat in the 2019 parliamentary elections as well. But the election was won by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed Rasheed.
Faris was first elected to parliament in a by-election after the Dhiggaru constituency’s seat became vacant in the 18th Majlis. He contested at the time on a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) ticket.
Faris received 2,979 votes in September’s presidential election, which was 1.3 percent of voters. He finished sixth among the eight candidates who contested.
