The opposition MDP concluded primaries on Friday to elect candidates to contest on the party ticket for 54 constituencies in the April 4 local council elections. Malé Mayor Adam Azim won the most heated contest with 1411 votes against 962 votes for opponent Ali Azim. All five incumbent mayors secured the MDP ticket to seek re-election, including Thinadhoo Mayor Saud Ali, who won his primary with 462 votes in a close race against Ahmed Naseer, who trailed with 417 votes. Candidates aligned with former President Solih won decisively against candidates backed by former President Nasheed. A relatively low turnout of about 40 percent was blamed on the school holidays.
Former President Abdulla Yameen is the most popular political leader, an opinion poll by Baani Center for International Policy found. Yameen scored 5.6 points out of 10 followed by President Muizzu with 5.3 points. Former Presidents Nasheed and Solih came in fourth and fifth respectively with 4.9 and 4.5 points.
A DOSTI-17 trilateral military exercise between the Maldivian, Indian and Sri Lankan Coast Guards was launched at a ceremony at Malé. Three Indian Coast Guard vessels and a Sri Lankan Coast Guard vessel arrived for the inauguration over the weekend. The joint exercise scheduled to take place between February 16 and 19 will feature search and rescue, maritime surveillance, interdiction drills, communication training and marine pollution response exercises. This year's exercises will focus on practical joint training and information sharing, MNDF said.
The Indian Coast Guard vessel ICGS Vajra ran aground on the Hulhudheli reef near the Gili Lankanfushi and Villa Nautica resorts on Friday. The ship was later re-floated and cleared from the reef with assistance from Indian and Maldivian Coast Guard vessels.
SparkHub hosted its first international Huddle event in Kuala Lumpur, bringing together more than 50 Maldivian founders and professionals based in Malaysia. The closed event featured four Maldivian entrepreneurs: Mohamed Fauzaan, founder of AI product company Pluk; Maail Rasheed, founder of Tiny App Studio and senior engineering manager at Mindvalley; Shafiu Hussain, co-founder and chef at Oviato; and Ahmed Afrah, co-founder of Family Room Coffee, which supported the event as coffee partner. SparkHub has run community programmes since 2018.
The Elections Commission opened applications to contest in the local council and women's development committee elections scheduled for April 4. The deadline for applications is February 1.
A school principal urged swimmers to beware of pen clams at the Rasfannu beach in Malé, which are "buried in the sand with only a small part sticking out, and stepping on them can cause cuts to your feet."
Following his appointment as the non-resident ambassador to Russia, Lieutenant General (Retired) Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef presented his credentials to President Vladimir Putin during a ceremony at the Kremlin. Abdul Raheem is the resident ambassador to Türkiye.
The winner of the first speedboat under a Dhiraagu promotion was Abdulla Saeed, a resort worker from Addu Feydhoo.
Guitarist Ahmed Shaheed (Shaheed Legacy) left the 2ofus band, citing concerns over lack of financial transparency, consistent payment practices and a failure to “acknowledge or respect his 25 years of experience in music." In a press statement, he hinted at disagreements with lead vocalist Adhuham, describing the band as a “one-man show” and a lack of artistic or professional growth, absence of new music and a musical direction that did not align with his style. Former band members Mohamed Nasooh, Ahmed Jasheem and Mohamed Hisam, who had left the group earlier, released similarly worded statements on Saturday. 2ofus rose to national prominence after placing third at the Battle of Bands International competition in India.
