Speaking at a campaign rally in Haa Alif Atoll Dhidhoo Island, former president and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed has called on his rivals to compete in elections instead of using the courts to obstruct presidential polls and disqualify MPs from the parliament.
Nasheed’s comments follow the Supreme Court’s stripping of MDP MP Ali Azim and MDP aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Mohamed Nashiz of their seats, and the Criminal Court’s sentencing in absentia of MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor to six months in jail for disobedience to order.
Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) council member Ibrahim ‘Wadde’ Waheed is seeking the disqualification of DRP Leader and MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s seat, citing his failure to pay decreed debt as per a 2010 court verdict.
Presidential polls have been set for November 9 after the Supreme Court annulled the first round of presidential elections held on September 7 and the police obstructed the Supreme Court ordered revote on October 19 after the JP and PPM refused to approve the voter registry.
“Our rivals do not know elections,” Nasheed said, adding that the only time his rivals had participated in elections was the multi-party elections of 2008 in which the MDP had defeated 30-year ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
Instead of campaigning and strengthening their political parties, rival PPM and Jumhooree Party were inciting hatred and engaging in back biting, Nasheed alleged.
“These people are a group, in other words a gang. There is no way they can participate in peaceful political activities,” he added whilst calling on PPM’s Abdulla Yameen and JP’s Gasim Ibrahim to compete in presidential elections.
Nasheed emphasized that the constitution exists to protect the citizenry’s rights, and that the judiciary, executive and legislature existed to uphold these rights.
“It is always, we, the citizens, who will say the last word in the Maldives,” he said.
Neither MDP nor EC want a vote: Gasim
Meanwhile, the JP’s Gasim Ibrahim has accused the Elections Commission (EC) of collaborating with Nasheed to obstruct free and fair polls on November 9.
“Neither the MDP nor the Elections Commission want to hold a vote. I accuse the Election Commission of doing things according to MDP’s wishes. I hear [the EC] does things the way Kenereege Mohamed Nasheed wants,” Gasim said at a press conference on Sunday.
The JP had sought and won an annulment of the first round of president held on September 7 at the Supreme Court, after narrowly placing third in the polls. Since then, the JP has continued to accuse the EC of fraud and tampering with the voter registry.
The EC wants Speaker Abdulla Shahid to assume the presidency at the end of the current presidential term on November 11 and hold polls afterwards, Gasim alleged.
“[T]hey want Abdulla Shahid to assume the presidency and then do this [hold election]. I think that is their spirit. This does not come as a surprise,” he told the press.
The Majlis last week passed a resolution to hand over presidency to the Speaker in the absence of a president elect on November 9. JP and the PPM boycotted the vote.
If no candidate gains over 50 percent in the November 9 polls, a second round is scheduled for November 16, five days after the end of the presidential term.
According to local media, Gasim has also said he favors a military takeover to Speaker Shahid assuming the presidency. He has called for President Dr Mohamed Waheed to continue beyond his term.
“Is it better for a man who is selected to assume the presidency? Or the Military? What is the difference? On one side they are stealing [the presidency] and doing things outside the law. Isn’t it better that our military takes over the country to save the country and maintain peace? It is their responsibility to ensure safety and peace in this country,” Channel News Maldives (CNM) quotes Gasim saying at a press conference on October 31.
The November 9 election is the EC’s fourth attempt to hold presidential polls. When the JP sought the vote annulment, the EC had scheduled a second round for September 28. With a verdict pending on the eve of elections, the EC decided to proceed with polls the next day.
However, the Supreme Court issued an injunction ordering the security forces to halt election preparations. Shortly afterwards, on October 7, the court annulled the September 7 polls and delineated 16 guidelines to hold polls by October 20.
The guidelines required all presidential candidates to sign the voter registry. However, with the JP and PPM refusing to sign the registry, the police stopped the election an hour before polls were to open.
Gasim on Saturday reiterated that he was ready to approve the voter registry if it was compiled properly. However, he alleged the EC had accepted reregistration forms with fingerprints like “a blot of ink.”
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MDP's rivals not only do not know about elections, they all seem to think that the rest of us are fools.
As I've mentioned previously I gave PPM the benefit of the doubt regarding their willingness to hold an election. Now, I am 100% convinced that they do NOT want an election to go ahead in the near future. Here is the reason:
(1) PPM has submitted THEIR own selection of 6000 forms for fingerprint verification.
(2) Any fool who knows anything about elementary statistics knows about something called “random sampling”. This is such a fundamental and elementary technique used in statistical analysis, in order to ensure the integrity of sampling from an unknown population.
Now, clearly, whoever tried to fool the EC and the rest of us didn’t manage to do so. As I understand, EC commissioner Fuad is a statistician, so I am glad that he saw through this very cheap trick.
(3) We can also speculate that those 6000 forms were chosen with a goal in mind. It is highly likely that those forms were “doctored” to discredit the EC.
(4) I am not too sure who is behind this hair brained scheme from PPM. EC wasn’t fooled and the educated public aren’t fooled either. In fact, it has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that PPM is trying yet again to put another spanner into the works to stop the election!
They can not deal with honesty and democracy. The criminals are in charge.
I am afraid that Maldives is moving towards civil war, considering the some of the political parties not willing to have free and fair election. All political parties should cooperate to have people's elected President on 11th Nov'13.
Nasheed thinks that Maldivians are only his followers and rest are alien.
Nasheed must know that with huge rigging which had happened on 7th Sept. still 55% of the voters had said no to you.
Get this fact and then speak.
Looks very scary there in the Maldives now.
Maybe the election commission is"doing things the way Nasheed wants"...because that's the proper, legal way!!!
Hero son I always asked you to finish your homework if you did that you wouldn't be embarrassing our family taking like an absolute idiot
Islam is meant to provide national unity. When leaders, religious and political, - express the MERCY of ALLAH towards ALL, Islam is indeed a BEAUTIFUL source of unity. When I have prayed with Maldivians, and we all expressed the Mercy of Allah towards each other, it has been DIVINE.
So important to Prophet Mohammed (SAW) was the Unifying POWER of MERCY that he forbade Muslims causing fitnah (division) in the Ummah by accusing those who had recited the Shahada of being Kuffar.
"O you who have believed, when you went forth in the cause of Allāh, investigate; and do not say to one who gives you [a greeting of] peace, “you are not a believer,” aspiring for the goods of worldly life; for with Allāh are many acquisitions. You [yourselves] were like that before, then Allāh conferred His favor upon you, so investigate. Indeed Allāh is ever, with what you do, Acquainted. (Suratul Nisaa: 94)
Prophet (SAW) severely condemned those who accused those who said Shahada of being irreligious. He chose to be MERCIFUL towards the Munafiq, hoping that one-day they truly WOULD believe in Islam from their hearts.
The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “I have not been ordered (by Allāh) to search the hearts of the people or cut open their bellies.” (Reported by Bukhāri and Muslim)
In another incident when Usama ibn Zayd radi Allahu anhuma killed a man though he had confessed that there is no deity worthy of being worshiped but Allāh, claiming that the man had said so out of fear of weapon, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him observed: “Did you tear his heart in order to find out whether it had professed that or not?” (Reported by Muslim)
Please Gasim, Yameen, Jameel, Umar, Maumoon, the Sheikh's, EVERYBODY, PLEASE stop disobeying the Sunnah by creating national division using Islam.
Follow the example of Rasul ALLAH and express MERCY towards Nasheed, dividing the Ummah like this is a serious FITNAH.
"MDP’s rivals not only do not know about elections, they all seem to think that the rest of us are fools."
Well they are right to an extent. Let's see the accomplishments of PPM thus far -
- Saddled us with a lawsuit with potential monetary consequences larger than our GDP at the same stroke, destroying investor confidence and leaving the only international airport barely functioning under a mediocre management.
- Spent millions (almost as much as the much touted "wasted" SAARC summit expenses) of Rufiya in stopping an international investigation of alleged crimes of their leader. Alleged is a mild word to use especially since had the investigation continued there would be no expenses incurred by the government.
- Most ministries under PPM control for nearly 2 years and the the economy is tanking, expenses soaring with development projects all halted. Yet they can keep a straight face and talk of "pledges", such as a "city for young people", or the promise to pay MRF10,000 for fishermen whether "they catch fish or not".
- Two elections annulled (again at a cost of millions). But zero specific complaints about the registry before the election yet allegedly "thousands" of fraudulent votes cast although no convictions of a single person for voter fraud.
Just based on the above 4 points (of which absolutely no question can be raised) any sane person would run for the hills. Yet we have over 50,000 living walking people voting for them. Therefore I would conclude that there are enough fools among us to keep them going.
@peasant
I dont consider PPM people to be "living walking people". 😀
Hey, fair's fair. They call us laadheenee dogs who deserve to be raped and killed.