The Adhaalath Party (AP) has decided to support merging the presidential and parliamentary elections.

In a post on social media X, the party said the decision was taken by a majority of its consultative council. However, the details are unknown.

When questioned why the party decided to support merging the key elections, the AP Spokesperson Hussain Ansar said many factors were taken into consideration.

“Mainly, the opinion of those who decided to approve it is that cost reduction is a huge advantage, and also the engagement of human resources and institutions will be significantly reduced,” Ansar said.

"Also, merging the two elections will significantly increase the turnout in the parliamentary elections, which will be an additional support for the people's participation in the election of their representatives."

Ansar said detailed information about the decision would be announced within the next two days.

President Mohamed Muizzu wants to hold the two elections on the same day, but this was not included in his presidential manifesto.

The bill to merge the elections was rushed through the government-controlled parliament without an extensive consultation process.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and many legal experts do not support the proposed change.

The Elections Commission (EC) is preparing to hold a referendum on the proposal during the April 4 local council elections.