North Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Aslam has been appointed as the running mate of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

When contacted by One Online, Aslam remained unavailable for comment.

However, an official from MDP confirmed the new to One Online, including an official from MDA, a coalition partner of President Solih.

They said the Party has appointed Aslam as the running mate and more work is being done in this regard.

Health Minister Ahmed Naseem also welcomed Aslam's appointment as the President's running mate.

Since the beginning of the movement to amend the Constitution and bring a full democratic system to the Maldives, Aslam has been working politically with President Solih at the front lines of MDP. Aslam is also the leader of the party's Parliamentary Group, the majority party in the parliament.

However, so far, the names of three people have been coming up as President Solih's running mates. They include Aslam, current Vice President Faisal Naseem, and Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid. It was earlier speculated that Faisal Naseem would be the running mate of President Solih.

President Solih had earlier said that the biggest task he faced in the run-up to the presidential election was to appoint the running mate. He said this would be done only after holding separate discussions with senior party leaders.

The deadline for filing nominations for the presidential election ends on Monday and only former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has filed his nomination papers so far.

However, his nomination was rejected by the Election Commission on the ground that he did not meet the eligibility criteria.

Earlier, President Solih had said that he would submit his candidacy form to the Election Commission by tomorrow at the earliest. However, this is not the case as the running mate has not been finalized.