MDP and PNC contest Vaavu Thinadhoo Council President by-election

The opposition main party, MDP, and the ruling main party, PNC, are contesting the by-election to elect a new Vaavu Thinadhoo council president after the Local Government Authority (LGA) declared the seat of Shujau Ali vacant.

Under local council regulations introduced during the current administration, a councillor who switches parties during their elected term forfeits their seat. Therefore, the LGA board decided on June 30 to declare Shujau resigned from the post of Thinadhoo council president and notify the EC that the seat is vacant.

Shujau’s seat was declared vacant on July 19, after determining that he had forfeited his position by switching political parties during his elected term. Applications for the post were open until the 26th of this month.

An Elections Commission media officer told Sun that one MDP member and one PNC member submitted candidacies during the period. The EC announced the names on Thursday.

Two candidates contesting for the presidency of the V. Thinadhoo Council:  

• Shujau Ali (MDP), Dilbahaaruge/ V. Thinadhoo  

• Ahmed Aman Mohamed (PNC), Naya/ V. Thinadhoo

Ahmed Aman Mohamed, the PNC candidate, was elected as an independent in the 2021 local council elections. Shujau Ali, the MDP candidate, was elected on The Democrats’ ticket in the last election before later joining MDP after the party’s dissolution, causing his seat loss.