Six candidates who won the parliamentary elections independently have signed up for the ruling PNC.

PNC shared a photo of some independent candidates meeting with President Dr Mohammed Muizzu, noting that some of the independent candidates signed up for the party yesterday.

The members are:

- Dr. Anara Naeem: Huraa constituency

- Hassan Zareer: Mathiveri constituency

- Ahmed Zameer: Central Machangolhi constituency

- Ahmed Riyaz: Thimarafushi constituency

- Yaseen Abdulla: Naifaru constituency

- Azim Abdul Azeez: Vilingili constituency

The MP-elects who signed with PNC on Tuesday includes former party members who lost the PNC primaries held in January. They later ran in the elections as independent candidates, with the government backing their candidacy over that of the ruling party’s own candidates.

The PNC won 66 seats in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday. With these six, the PNC has 72 MPs.

In addition, a JP member, an MNP member and two MDA members were also elected with the support of the government. Therefore, the total number of the government coalition's supermajority is 76.

The anti-defection bill, which was introduced by the opposition MDP, became law on the 16th of this month. If any of the five circumstances provided for in the Act occurs, the Election Commission shall notify the Parliament within seven days at the latest. The person shall resign from the membership of Parliament from the date on which the Election Commission notifies the Parliament.

If an independent member becomes a member of any political party during the term for which they were elected, they shall resign. However, if the member signs up for a party before taking the oath, the procedure is not specified.