PNC in u-turn amid rifts allows all to contest parliament primary
Some members of the PNC gathered at the office on Sunday evening to express their dissatisfaction with the decision.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday decided to let all the interested candidates contest in the ruling Progressive Congress Coalition's (PNC) parliamentary primary after several of the members who had their candidacy rejected expressed dissatisfaction over the party's decision.
Some members who applied for the primary to contest the March 17 parliamentary elections have been sent letters saying their candidacies are not acceptable.
In the letter to some members, they were alleged of sedition during the unrest after the recent presidential elections, and rejected. In other letters, the reason cited was that they had not served the party long or hard enough.
Some members of the PNC gathered at the office on Sunday evening to express their dissatisfaction with the decision.
With these complaints, PNC Chairman and President Muizzu's Special Advisor, Presidential Office Senior Minister Abdul Raheem Abdullah posted on his 'X' account that President Muizzu has decided to withdraw the decision to cancel any candidacy.
According to Abdul Raheem:
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The primary will be open to all who have submitted their names
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The decision was taken after considering complaints about the rejected candidacies
The date of the PPM-PNC primary has been changed several times and it is now scheduled to be held on coming Saturday.
In the letters signed by Abdul Raheem on Sunday, his reasons for not accepting the candidacies of some people are:
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When the proposal to contest the election was examined, the MP had been caught in opposition to the party's policies that emerged within the party after winning the presidential election
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They have participated in the efforts of a group of people in such a way as to create confusion among the general members of the party and tried to promote these policies
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They have created divisions within the party
