Former Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer, who had announced that he would be running for Presidency as an independent candidate in early May, has said that he will be announcing his decision to run in the presidential election after revealing that he has garnered over 2,000 signatures required to qualify for the election.

The former minister revealed this via a Facebook post with a picture of himself with numerous endorsement forms. Naseer expressed his gratitude to the volunteers to endorse his candidacy, revealing that he had received over 2,200 signatures of endorsement.

According to the law, independents vying for presidency require need the endorsement of at least 1,500 citizens to qualify for candidacy.

While Naseer is yet to submit his bid for candidacy, his passport has been withheld by the immigration department over a debt settlement issue. RaajjeMV understands that the debt settlement case involves Whale Submarine, a company in which Naseer has a share in.

According to the Maldives Constitution, persons involved in debt settlement cases will not qualify for candidacy. However, some legal experts claim that this issue will not get in the way of Naseer’s candidacy under the legal ambit.

Naseer said that he has left all of the companies in which he has a share in, to run for office.

The former minister had received 2,472 votes in the Presidential Election of 2008.