JP to hold presidential primary

Jumhoory Party (JP) has announced plans to hold a presidential primary to elect its candidate for the upcoming presidential election.

JP, which is part of the current coalition government, made the announcement on Wednesday, a day after the party decided it will not support President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for re-election, and will contest the upcoming election independently instead.

JP’s spokesperson Ali Solih told Sun that the party will hold a presidential primary as dictated by the party’s constitution.

He said that candidacy for the primary will open “soon”.

Ali Solih said that JP’s constitution dictates that only council members can vote in the primary.

The party’s general members will therefore not be eligible to vote in the primary.

“We will open candidacy for the primary. The voting will be carried out by the council,” he said.

JP’s council has some 100 members.

JP is the third largest party in Maldives with some 18,000 members.

JP’s leader Qasim Ibrahim had contested the 2008 and the 2013 presidential elections. He won 15 percent of votes in 2008, and 24 percent of votes in 2013 – not enough to qualify for a second round.

However, a now-overturned conviction rendered him ineligible for the 2018 election. JP joined a coalition with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which went on to win the election.

President Solih had repeatedly met with Qasim to garner his support for the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, MDP’s leader Mohamed Nasheed is lobbying for Qasim to contest the election. MPs aligned with Nasheed met with politicians from JP on Tuesday night to discuss a potential joint parliamentary group.