The Elections Commission has on Thursday told political parties to hold their primaries for the 2019 parliamentary election, before the 26th of January.
At a press conference on Thursday, Elections Commissioner Ahmed Shareef stated that the primaries are required to be held before 26th January as the law states that those who lose the primaries will not be allowed to contest in the Parliamentary Election.
“Primaries must be held before 26th January and their results must be submitted to us. So far, we have only observed Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) working to hold their primaries. We are bringing to every party’s attention, to hold your primaries before 26th January if you have sent the letter to the EC” said Shareef.
The commissioner further instructed political parties to send in the results of the primaries on the 27th of January because they will be opening window for contestants to submit bids for election on the 28th of January.
Ruling MDP is to hold their primary on the 18th of January and has decided to hold primaries for 76 constituencies. However, no other political parties have announced a date to hold their primaries.
While the 18th tenure of Parliament comes to an end in May, the parliamentary elections are scheduled for 6th April.
