Sembe: Received proposition to become running mate amid Yameen’s Supreme Court trial

Vice President Elect Hussain Mohamed Latheef (Sembe) has stated he received the proposition to become the running mate of President Elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu in the midst of a hearing of opposition PPM-PNC coalition’s leader, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom at the Supreme Court.

Speaking at a program broadcasted by PSM on Friday, he said Muizzu had talked about prioritizing youths on the night before he received a proposition to become now president elect’s running mate.

“I had not even considered or hoped for it at that point. (Muizzu) had talked about how he will prioritize the nation’s youths. That it was what he needed to secure votes from the youths in order to shape their future. That it was what would be accepted. That he needed to show a face of the youth, a new face, to sell these points,” Sembe recalled.

Sembe said Muizzu proposed he become his running mate the following night, during the recess of a hearing in a Supreme Court case of Yameen.

“(He said) that it was a huge request of his. That he has been assured I can do this within the past few days. To move forward with him on this, and that President Yameen was also urging to target the votes of the youth,” Sembe recalled further.

He said he received a short period of time to make a decision regarding Muizzu’s proposition. He added that he called his father and sought his advice.

“My father clearly told me to go forward with it,” he said.

Sembe noted that he had known and talked to Muizzu since his initial election to the parliament.

Through this experience, he said he has very closely seen Muizzu’s leadership and undertakings. He also added that he had always received assistance from Muizzu with respect to his parliamentary works.

“Hence, his personality, the policies he was shaping, were highly appealing to me,” he noted.

Sembe expressed full confidence in being able to work alongside Muizzu and also assured of his loyalty to the president elect.