Nasheed urges PPM to not boycott election

Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has called on the leading opposition party PPM not to boycott the presidential elections and join hands with The Democrats.

PPM leader and presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen, who is serving a jail sentence, has ordered his followers to boycott the election after the Supreme Court ruled that he cannot contest the election. However, PPM-PNC senate has voted against a directive from their jailed leader Abdulla Yameen to boycott the upcoming presidential election.

As the PPM-PNC senate meeting to take the vote continued, Nasheed tweeted asking all PPM members to think more about it.

"Boycotting the election is the best way for [President Ibrahim Mohammed] Solih to win the election. I would like to ask all PPM members to think about this further," Nasheed said.

"Don't give up and move forward with The Democrats. With God's will, we will win."

Nasheed has repeatedly invited the PPM to contest the presidential election with the Democrats. He also asked The Democrats to nominate a PPM candidate as running mate.

After losing the presidential primary to President Solih, Nasheed has held various talks with the PPM on several occasions. The discussion meetings have continued since the founding of The Democrats.