Council members elected on opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) tickets will soon join the ruling coalition, said pro-government MP Ahmed Nihan Hussein Manik has said.

In a series of tweets on Friday, MP Nihan said that nonpartisan council members that were elected in the Local Council Elections held last Saturday would also join the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

He further said that it would be ‘impossible to effectively work for development’ without the support of the government, claiming that the Decentralization Act itself stipulates this.

Nihan described the council elections to be a ‘semi-final’, in which PPM and MDP had qualified to the ‘finals’; referring to the upcoming Presidential Elections in 2018.

He stated that PPM would win the elections by a landslide.

Along with its reform partner, the Jumhooree Party, MDP had acquired 325 seats, while PPM and its allied Maldives Development Alliance had garnered 210 seats.

The only nonpartisan council member that has signed on to a party was Abdulla Rasheed, of Vaadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll,