MP Ibrahim Shareef, MDP – Maradhoo Constituency, has said that his party’s alliance is a worthy force running in this year’s presidential race and that the relative size of the coalition eliminates their worries.

MDP in its bid for this year’s presidential race is allied with two other political parties – Adhaalath Party and Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA).

Jumhooree Party (JP), a current partner in President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s coalition government, recently, in its reply to a months-old written request from Solih to ally with him in the presidential race said that “the party will contest the election independently”. Shareef said that the space created by JP is now filled up by MDA making MDP’s alliance as strong as before.

“In JP’s stead, we have MDA as a coalition partner which is similar in size to that of JP. So, our coalition is no leaner this time (compared to five years ago). We have no worries”, Shareef said.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih will officially launch his presidential campaign trips to the atolls after the Great Eid – known in Arabic as Eid al Adha, holidays, ruling MDP said recently.

MDP said that “the president will visit all inhabited islands in the country to meet his supporters face-to-face before voting on September 9”.