Sobe takes office as new MP for North Hithadhoo

Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe) has taken office as the new parliamentary representative for North Hithadhoo, boosting the number of seats held in the Parliament by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) from 12 to 13.

The North Hithadhoo seat was previously filled by Mohamed Sinan (Sina), a politician from the ruling People’s National Congress (PN), who lost it on April 12, after losing a Supreme Court case filed over a declared debt.

MDP's Sobe, a former Addu City mayor, won the seat in a tightly contested by-election held on June 6, by beating former Addu City councilman Ahmed Saeed (Soda) from the PNC by a slim margin of three percent.

He took his oath of office ahead of a parliamentary sitting on Monday morning.

Sobe had secured the MDP ticket after running uncontested in the party’s primary, while Soda had lost the PNC primary to Sinan, but got the ticket after the former lawmaker decided to bow out of the election.

Sobe won his seat by securing 1,375 votes (51 percent) to Soda’s 1,313 (58 percent).

In his victory speech, Sobe, whose political career includes three consecutive terms as Addu City mayor, vowed to work within the Parliament to hold the government accountable.

Sobe’s election to the North Hithadhoo seat increases the total seats held by the MDP to 13 – making little impact on the PNC’s supermajority in the Parliament.

The ruling party holds 74 out of 93 seats, while the MDP now holds 13. Meanwhile, the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) holds two, and the Jumhoory Party (JP) and Maldives National Party (MNP) holds one each. The remaining two seats are held by independents.