Jumhooree Party (JP) has postponed its official decision regarding the party's alliance for the runoff polls of the presidential election scheduled for September 30.
The Qasim Ibrahim-led party earlier announced its council would hold a meeting on Wednesday to make a decision regarding JP's next alliance move.
However, the party's spokesperson Ali Solih said that the meeting had been postponed but did not disclose additional information.
Reports indicate the council meeting was pushed for a later date in favor of ongoing coalition discussions.
Earlier on Wednesday, it was also reported that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was scheduled to meet JP leader Qasim at his Sun Island Resort at 1:00 p.m. The two were expected to hold discussions regarding an alliance.
JP, which still remains as a coalition partner of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) decided to contest in the presidential election independently. The party nominated its leader Qasim Ibrahim for the presidential race, who during his campaign, heavily criticized incumbent president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, MDP, and the current government.
Previously considered as the "King Maker", Qasim came in fifth in the first round of the presidential election with 5,460 votes.
While MDP candidate president Solih was reported to hold a meeting with Qasim, a delegation of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) coalition met with the JP leader some time on Tuesday, September 12.
Qasim's alliance decisions in the past had been instrumental in deciding the victor in the second round of the presidential election; first in 2008 which saw former leader of MDP Mohamed Nasheed's victory, and again in 2013, where PPM leader Abdulla Yameen guaranteed his presidency. However, this year's first round results indicate that JP has lost its "swing vote" status.