Yameen's son as new party founder

Former President Abdulla Yameen has decided to register his new party, the People's National Front (PNF) in the name of his son, Zein Abdulla Yameen.

Former Communications Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, who is spearheading the formation of Yameen’s new party, shared some details with the media regarding the formation of the party after a consultative meeting with the Elections Commission (EC) on PNF registration on Sunday.

Maleeh said that Yameen wants eight people to be the founders of the PNF, including himself. it is:

However, according to the Elections Commission rules, only one founder is allowed to form a party.

“Therefore, we have spoken on behalf of President Yameen and asked the Election Commission to issue this permission in the name of Zain Abdullah Yameen,” Maleeh said.

Maleeh had earlier said that he would submit his application to the EC in Sunday’s meeting seeking permission to set up the PNF, but it was not done in the meeting. This is because Maleeh said after the meeting that things like clearing up the criminal record of Zain had to be done. 

"We have held discussions with the Election Commission members and staff in a very friendly atmosphere to get the necessary permission to form the party. They have fully assured us of their full cooperation to form this party as soon as possible," he said.

"Our hope is that if the DGA [Department of Judicial Administration] provides the criminal records today even, we will come to the Election Commission to submit the forms”.

Maleeh hopes to get permission to form the PNF within 24 hours of submitting the form. With that, he said, the recruitment process will start as soon as possible.

Yameen's senior lawyer Jameel said the PNF would break the record of forming a political party and contest for the city council and parliament.