Voting is underway in the ruling coalition's primary to elect candidates for the upcoming parliamentary polls.
Voting started at 10:00 am. The queues at polling stations will close at 5:00 pm.
A total of 227 ballot boxes have been set up and 283 candidates are contesting in the primary.
Voting is ongoing in seven areas in the Male' region. They are Henveiru Stadium, Kalaafaanu School, Jamaluddin School, Thaajuddeen School, Villimale' Youth Center, Kamil Didi School and Rehendhi School.
People registered in the atolls but residing in Male' have to cast their ballots at Henveiru Stadium.
Candidates will be elected for 73 parliament constituencies while 71,597 people are eligible to vote in the joint primary of the People's National Congress (PNC) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
The ruling coalition's parliamentary ticket has already been confirmed for 13 candidates. They secured the ticket as no other candidates decided to run in their constituencies.
Candidates who have secured tickets include PNC Chairman and Senior Advisor to the President Abdul Raheem Abdulla, Edhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem and Mahibadhoo MP Ahmed Thoriq.
Meanwhile, there have been complaints from members claiming that some names were deliberately removed from the registry ahead of the primary.
They allege that the names were deliberately removed from the list to reduce the number of votes for a particular candidate.
The coalition has not made an official statement on the matter.
Earlier, several members expressed dissatisfaction after the coalition cancelled the candidacies of some candidates over allegations of siding with former President Abdulla Yameen in the PPM founder's dispute with incumbent President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
After the PPP/PNC primary election was opened, many people expressed their dissatisfaction after some candidates were announced ineligible on 21st of this month.
