Nabeel Zameer, who had applied to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections as an independent candidate, has been appointed to the post of Deputy Minister at Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy.
Nabeel made the decision to run independently after losing in the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)/ People's National Congress (PNC) primaries.
Although the President's Office has not officially announced the appointment yet, Nabeel has revealed the assumption of the position on his social media pages.
Nabeel, who hails from Shaviyani Atoll Feevah, ran in the primaries for the Manadhoo constituency. That constituency's ticket, however, was won by his opponent, former member Hassan Mufeed.
Upon facing defeat in the primaries, Nabeel declared his support for Mufeed. However, a few days later, he withdrew this support and decided to run for parliament as an independent candidate instead. It is believed that he ran independently with the backing of former President Abdulla Yameen.
However, Nabeel has since decided to withdraw his candidacy. Once again, he appealed to his supporters to vote for PPM/PNC Candidate Mufeed instead.
As he made his decision after the Election's Commission's window for candidate withdrawal closed, his name will remain on the ballot paper.