Shaaz to swear-in as new Guraidhoo MP on Monday

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s candidate Ibrahim Shaaz, who won the K. Guraidhoo byelection last weekend, is set to take his oath early next week.

In a press statement Thursday, Parliament’s Communications Director Hassan Ziyau said the oath taking ceremony will be held at 10:00 am on Monday, April 24.

Shaaz will join the parliamentary sitting Monday after he takes his oath.

The main ruling MDP had won the election with 1,346 votes, beating the main opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Maldives National Party (MNP).

Shaaz’s main competitor had been PPM’s Hussain Riza, who won 1,266 votes. MNP’s Ali Arif trailed behind with 136 votes.

The Guraidhoo seat had fallen vacant with the death of MP Ibrahim Riza on February 23. He died at the age of 55 years in a hospital in Malaysia after a two-year-long battle with cancer.

Riza had served at the Parliament for 13 consecutive years. He had been a member of multiple parliamentary committees, and also served as vice president of the Judicial Service Commission during former president Abdulla Yameen’s administration.

Riza had been elected to the Parliament as an independent candidate in 2009, before joining PPM.

MDP’s win last weekend marks the first time the party has won the Guraidhoo seat since the new constitution came into effect.