Parliamentarians aligned with the Joint Opposition are to meet voters at their homes in a new ‘door to door’ initiative to encourage re-registration for the upcoming presidential elections.

This one-day initiative was launched on Saturday during an event at Kunooz, the opposition Jumhooree Party’s headquarters in capital city Malé, by MP Faisal Naseem, who is also the Joint Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate.

In his address, MP Faisal said that he hopes all voters required to re-register – who reside in islands and atolls they are not native to – do so before the Elections Commission’s deadline, 11th August.

The Kaashidhoo constituency parliamentarian, who is on the same ticket as the Maldivian opposition’s presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, said that he is ‘honoured’ to be part of this initiative.

Parliamentarians aligned with the Maldives’ allied opposition parties, the Maldivian Democratic Party, the Adhaalath Party, one faction of the Progressive Party of Maldives, and the Jumhooree Party, are participating in the initiative.

Lawmakers will visit homes in capital city Malé and its urban and suburban extensions, Hulhumalé and Villingili respectively, until 9:00pm on Saturday.

The Maldivian Democratic Party’s deputy president Mohamed Shifaz, a former parliamentarian himself, said that the Joint Opposition expects each team of parliamentarians to collect at least 100 re-registration forms.

Further, MP Rozaina Adam had encouraged all citizens to actively participate in the electoral process and to apply for re-registration, which she described as an ‘easy process, available at all Joint Opposition focal points’.