Six MPs-elect who won parliament seats as independent candidates have re-joined the ruling People's National Congress (PNC).
In a post on X, PNC revealed a photo of the MPs-elect with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu at his official residence Muleeaage and confirmed that they had "signed" to the party.
However, five of the MPs-elect, although they contested as independent candidates, are already on the membership registry of PNC.
Dr. Anara Naeem - Huraa Constituency
Anara contested for the Huraa constituency in the PNC primary but faced a defeat. However, she ran for the seat as an independent candidate representing the President.
She won the seat with 769 votes. Abdulla Warish who got 686 votes won the PNC primary.
Anara is the former MP for Makunudhoo from the Adhaalath Party in the 18th People's Majlis. She contested for a seat in the 19th People's Majlis but was unsuccessful.
Hassan Zareer - Mathiveri Constituency
Zareer was elected for a second term with 927 votes. The closest contender, PNC candidate, Abdullah Lutfi, got 849 votes. Although there was a PNC candidate, President Muizzu decided to back Zareer.
Zareer was elected to the 19th People's Majlis on the ticket of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). However, he left the former ruling party and joined the PNC after President Muizzu took over the government in November 2023.
Ahmed Zameer - Mahchangolhi Medhu Constituency
Zameer contested the PNC primary and received 127 votes. The candidate who won the primary, Mohamed Abdul Ghadir (Kuku), got 174 votes. President Muizzu signed and gave the PNC ticket to Kuku.
However, during the election campaign, Kuku backed down and endorsed Zameer because President Muizzu was campaigning for Zameer. He won the election with 760 votes.
Zameer was also elected to Mahchangolhi Medhu Constituency in the current term of the Male' City Council. He was elected on the MDP ticket. But he left the party and signed up for and joined the PNC's coalition partner Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Azim Abdul Aziz - Villingili Constituency
Azim contested in the PNC primary for the Villingili constituency. He received 485 votes while Yazmeed Mohamed received 577 votes.
After that, Azim ran for the election as an independent candidate. In the early days of the campaign, both candidates claimed to be "President's" candidates. At some point in the campaign, President Muizzu began supporting Yazmeed.
However, Azim defeated Yazmeed and won the seat. Azim got 1,170 votes while Yazmeed got 1,001 votes.
Yaasin Abdullah - Naifaru Constituency
Yaasin is also a member of the PPM/PNC coalition. In the 2021 local council elections, he was elected as the Lhaviyani Atoll Council President on the PPM ticket with 3,026 votes.
The PNC fielded a candidate for the Naifaru constituency. Hassaan Alifulhu (Bass) contested for the seat with the support of President Muizzu. He came in third with 880 votes. The MDP candidate came second with 905 votes while Yaasin won the seat with 1,038 votes.
The PPM has represented the Naifaru constituency in the past two terms of Parliament. Former MP Ahmed Shiyam who represented Naifaru in the past two terms as Fisheries Minister of the current government
Ahmed Riyaz - Thimarafushi Constituency
Ibrahim Sanah (Santo), who was a close aide of President Muizzu, won the PNC primary. Riyaz did not contest in the PNC primary but the President endorsed him.
Several ministers and government officials campaigned for Riyaz. Due to this, Santo and his team staged protests in several islands in the constituency.
Riyaz won the seat with 813 votes. Santo came in second with 726 votes.
According to the preliminary results announced by the Elections Commission (EC), 66 PNC candidates won the seats.
With the re-joining of these six MPs-elect to the ruling party, PNC's parliamentary group will now have 72 MPs.
