Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate and president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has sought the endorsement of parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed for the presidential election's runoff polls scheduled for September 30.
The two met on Sunday, September 24 for discussions regarding possible alliance after which they spoke to local media.
President Solih said that he held discussions with his former MDP ally regarding the current political situation in the Maldives.
Among the topics discussed included the recent parliament-approved referendum resolution to elect a governance system.
In addition, the two discussed in detail about the upcoming second round of elections scheduled for this Saturday.
President Solih also engaged in conversations concerning Nasheed and The Democrats' decision not to formally endorse him for the runoff polls. During these discussions, he sought Nasheed's support ahead of the voting.
He further promised to disclose details of their discussion at a later date.
As the runoff polls draw near, this marks the first occasion where both Solih and Nasheed have been seen together following their widely publicized rift.
Nasheed exited the ruling party after facing defeat in the MDP primary against president Solih. Since his departure from the party he co-founded, Nasheed has persistently criticised both Solih and the ruling party, contending that MDP was no longer adhering to the principles upon which it was originally founded.
Referendum regardless of runoff polls outcome
President Solih further shared discussions regarding the public referendum. He said that post the runoff polls, he would directly instruct the Elections Commission (EC) to proceed with the referendum.
"We decided not to talk about [the referendum] for now, and regardless of the outcome from the runoff polls, we agreed to proceed with the referendum," president Solih said.
The Democrats, which secured the third-highest number of votes in the first round of elections, along with Nasheed, made the decision not to officially endorse either of the candidates competing in the runoff polls.
The party then submitted a resolution, through its presidential candidate Ilyas Labeeb, calling for a public referendum to determine the governance system of the Maldives following the second round of elections.
The resolution was approved last week with the support of the MDP.