Current MP for Kimbidhoo constituency and Minority leader Abdulla Riyaz announced his campaign for Parliament as MP of Thimarafushi constituency.

While Riyaz is launching his campaign backed by Jumhooree Party (JP), his opponent is Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) Mohamed Mustafa. Mustafa is the current MP of the Thimarafushi constituency. The race for this particular seat at Parliament has always been a competitive one and the same is expected this time.

Abdulla Riyaz announced his campaign for the parliamentary seat of the Thimarafushi/Veymandoo constituency on twitter. Riyaz expressed his hope that he will succeed in his campaign and added that he hopes he has the support of the public.

In an interview with One Online, MP Riyaz said that running for the MP of Thimarafushi constituency has always been a dream of his. He further reiterated the reasoning and said that it was because he was born in the constituency and have a lot of family and friends there that wanted to serve.

Riyaz said that the reason he did not run for the Thimarafushi seat earlier was family. The seat was being pursued by his cousin Ahmed Shareef at the time and Riyaz wanted to give that opportunity to Shareef. Mustafa of MDP won the MP of Thimarafushi constituency against Ahmed Shareef by 9 votes in the earlier election.