JP has decided not to support any candidate in the second round of the presidential election to be held on the 30th of this month.

The decision was taken at the party's 160th council meeting held at Kunooz today afternoon.

In the first round of the presidential election, Qasim received 5,450 votes. That's 2.4 percent.

Qasim held coalition talks with PPM and MDP before the council meeting.

The President and MDP presidential candidate, Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, visited Sun Island on Wednesday. He also spent two days with Qasim for coalition talks.

During the two days President Solih spent at Sun Island, the two leaders held several meetings separately. Some other meetings were attended by others.

Qasim had also met with PPM/PNC running mate Hassan Mohamed Latheef and senior party officials last Tuesday, where they discussed potentially working together for the second round.

While JP has decided that they will not be backing any candidate in the second round, Umar Naseer who ran independently has also said that he has no plans to form a coalition.

PPM has also held talks with The Democrats to form a coalition in the second round. Democrats have proposed a referendum on changing the system of governance on the 25th of this month before the second round of the presidential election.

The Democrats have suspended talks with the party after PPM refused. However, the discussions with the MDP are still ongoing.

PPM is also in talks with independent candidate Faris Maumoon. The Maldives National Party (MNP), which contested the first round, has signed a coalition agreement to support Muizzu in the second round of the presidential election. And the party’s leaders are active in the campaign.