Tag: elections commission

Candidates for Villingili and Mahibadhoo constituency seek to invalidate elections

Candidates who unsuccessfully contested for Majlis seats in Gaafu Alifu and Alifu Dhaalu atolls have filed cases at the High Court to invalidate the election results of those constituencies.

According to local media, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate for Gaafu Alifu Villingili constituency Haroon Rasheed and Jumhooree Party (JP) candidate for Mahibadhoo constituency Ahmed Sunil filed the cases today.

Mahibadhoo constituency was won by independent candidate Ahmed Thariq ‘Tom’ – who has since joined Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – while the Villingili constituency was won by PPM candidate Mohamed Saud.

The High Court has accepted cases concerning electoral issues for eight constituencies so far.

Candidates who contested for Mid-Hithadhoo, Naifaru, Shaviyani Funadhoo, Thimarafushi, Kurendhoo, and Nolhivaram have also filed cases with the High Court.

These initial results in these constituencies returned two progressive coalition MPs-elect – one JP and one PPM, one independent candidate, and three MDP representatives, although this includes Thimarafushi’s Mohamed Musthafa who defected to the PPM within 10 days of the poll.

The court has started the hearings concerning the Funadhoo, Hithadhoo-Mid, and Kurendhoo constituencies.

The High Court has today concluded hearings into the Mid-Hithadhoo case, saying that if the court does not need to further study the case or question witnesses during the next hearing it will deliver a verdict.

PPM candidate in Mid-Hithadhoo Ibrahim ‘Hiyaaly’ Rasheed, who filed the case, has asked the High Court for police intelligence regarding the bribery allegations he has made.

Rasheed’s lawyer has submitted the names of 10 witnesses to prove his client’s allegations that there was bribery involved in the parliamentary elections.

MDP candidate for Shaviyani Funadhoo constituency Abbas Mohamed, who lost the seat to PPM candidate Ali Saleem, has alleged that the ballot box kept in Shaviyani atoll Magoodhoo was closed after the time specified by the Elections Commission (EC).

He alleged that election officials started counting the Magoodhoo ballot box after the EC had announced the preliminary results, questioning the validity of the poll.

Abbas also said that PPM candidate Saleem had campaigned after the campaigning time was up by throwing flyers and posters around the islands.

He alleged that Saleem had bribed people in the day of election and that his complaints – filed with the EC complaints bureau – were not considered.

Saleem won the seat by 930 votes while MDP candidate got 855 votes.

Following the election, the EC revealed that a total of 115 complaints were submitted in writing to the national complaints bureau, including 18 concerning the voter registry and 33 complaints regarding negative campaigning, the behaviour of election officials, and campaigning during polling hours.

In its preliminary statement on the parliament elections, local NGO ransparency Maldives (TM) said elections were well-administered and transparent “but wider issues of money politics threatens to hijack [the] democratic process”.

TM revealed that a survey conducted prior to last year’s presidential election showed that 15 percent of respondents had been offered “money or other incentives” in exchange for their vote.

“Admissions about illegal activities such as this are usually underreported in surveys. TM’s long-term observation indicates that vote buying may be even more widespread in the parliamentary elections than other elections,” the statement read.

“Inability of state institutions to prosecute vote buying due to gaps in the electoral legal framework, lack of coordination, and buck-passing between the relevant institutions have allowed rampant vote buying to go unchecked.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

EC announces official results of Majlis polls

The Elections Commission (EC) announced the official results last night of the parliamentary elections that took place on Saturday, March 22.

A number of ballot boxes were reopened to address complaints from candidates before the official results were announced. However, the recounts did not affect the outcome in any of the 85 constituencies.

The official results did not differ from the preliminary results announced last week.

As 189,482 out of 240,652 eligible voters cast their ballots on Saturday, voter turnout for the parliamentary polls was 78.80 percent.

The number of male voters was 95,744 while the number of female voters was 93,898.

Speaking at a press conference held last night to announce the official results, EC member Ali Mohamed Manik noted that 52 out of 75 complaints lodged at the national complaints bureau had been addressed.

None of the remaining complaints could affect the outcome, he said.

Under electoral laws, candidates could file cases at the High Court within 14 days if they are unhappy with decisions by the complaints bureau.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

EC announces preliminary results for all constituencies except Nilandhoo

The Elections Commission (EC) has announced preliminary results of Saturday’s parliamentary polls for all electoral constituencies with the exception of the Nilandhoo constituency in Faafu atoll.

Independent candidate Abdulla Haleel appears to have won the Nilandhoo seat with 645 votes while incumbent Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Abdul Muhsin Hameed was placed second with 644 votes.

According to local media, the EC delayed announcing the results for Nilandhoo in order to address a number of election-related complaints by the ruling coalition.

Preliminary results show that the Progressive Coalition secured a comfortable of 53 seats while the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 26 seats.

Coalition parties have also lodged complaints regarding the Noonu Velidhoo constituency where MDP candidate Abdulla Yameen won the seat with a 13-vote margin against a Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) candidate.

PPM and MDA leaders told the press at the EC offices yesterday that there were discrepancies between the results the parties received from polling stations and those announced by the EC.

The coalition parties also informed the media that complaints regarding alleged vote buying in the constituency were also submitted with video and audio evidence.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Majlis election: Nasheed calls for MDP restructuring after election defeat

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has called for new leadership within the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) following defeat in what he described as an “unfair” but accepted parliamentary election.

“I request new people to come and run the party,” Nasheed told the media today.

The party’s figurehead said he will continue to serve the party in the future and hopes that members of the party would make clear his role.

“I want new people to come forward to run the party. But I will not go away from the party, I will always remain in doing party work,” he added.

Nasheed, a co-founder of MDP and it’s first chairperson, was elected as the President of Maldives in the first democratic election in 2008.

The position of both president and vice president of the party remain vacant after party president Dr Ibrahim Didi and VP Alhan Fahmy were removed in a no-confidence vote in April 2012. Nasheed said today that a new party president should be elected soon.

“It is important for the party to restructure with these new results and with new people and go forward fast,“ he said.

Commenting on the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) comments about reforming the MDP, Nasheed said that the work done by all parties in the Maldives needed reform.

“If PPM says that, it should be an inspiration for us. I believe when parties tell each other to strengthen their functioning, it must be accepted,” Nasheed said.

The function of holding the government accountable would be difficult without a majority, he noted, but it would still be carried out by the MDP in other forms such as questioning state institutions and bringing issues to the attention of the public.

“We did hope for a majority. I was hoping for around 45 seats. Not winning the election was a great loss for us. But I don’t think the result is such a loss that we should be so worried that we stop our work and become weak.”

“The MDP will remain as a big party, will hold rallies, give speeches, take trips, will say whatever has to be said politically at anytime. The MDP will protest, MDP will raise their voice over issues. MDP will carry out peaceful political activity?” Nasheed continued.

An official party statement issued today said that the party hopes its members will remain in reforming the country, and assured that the elected candidates of the party will remain in “preventing the country from going off track” and in reforming the judiciary.

“The MDP will always go forward in the path shown by the members and supporters of the party, in ways which are most beneficial for the country,” the MDP press statement read.

Parliamentary Elections

The reasons for losing the election previously suggested by members of the MDP leadership were echoed by Nasheed today

He said the defeat was a result of multiple factors, including undue influence, fear, money, candidates, policies, campaign budget shortages, and a lack of confidence in the election.

Nasheed suggested that expelling employees from companies with government shares and government positions also had a negative impact on the results.

“The voter turnout was very low in many areas. I believe among these reasons are removing Elections Commission members, and lack of confidence in the election from the members of the public,” Nasheed said.

Criticising the Supreme Court’sremoval of the Elections Commission (EC) president and vice president a few days ahead of the parliamentary elections, Nasheed said that such an election will be “very difficult to be considered fair”.

He said that it was a display of power to the public and it resulted in a low voter turnout, as many people believed the election would not make a difference.

“We believe this is not a fair transparent election because of that. I am not saying that things didn’t go well on election day. I’m not saying that we don’t generally accept the election.”

He also noted that the leadership of any party and the those involved in it should take responsibility for the victories and losses.

Commenting on the leadership’s responsibility for the defeat, Nasheed said that negligence of leaders should be accepted when faced with a failure, but that there had been no such negligence to a level which required going into detail and pointing fingers.

Congratulating President Abdulla Yameen for achieving “a great victory”, Nasheed called on him to lead and work with the MDP in reforming the judiciary and sustaining the democratic system.

“We hope that our members will do substantial work in the parliament as an opposition party. We believe there is a lot of work that has to be done through the People’s Majlis.”

“I hope the government will use their parliament majority with care, that they will not take our members to court, and that these members will not have to face extraordinary obstacles.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

DhiFM Plus asked to publicly apologise for upside down pictures

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) has asked private media outlet DhiFM Plus to issue a public apology for broadcasting an upside down picture of former Elections Commissioner President Fuwad Thowfeek.

In a statement (Dhivehi) on MBC’s website, the commission has noted that the act was in violation of the broadcasting code of practice and that it had violated the honour of Thowfeek.

MBC said that the commission had previously advised the TV station that content containing upside down pictures of persons were in violation to the broadcasting code of practice but that the TV station had failed to correct it.

The TV station was asked to issue a statement of apology before 26 March and to display the statement from 8pm to 10pm.

On February 12, 2014, the MBC asked private TV station DhiTV and its sister company, the radio station DhiFM Plus, to stop using upside down images of Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek.

In a statement issued on the MBC website at the time, the commission asked the TV channel and the radio station – a pioneer of ‘visual radio’ in the Maldives – not to broadcast such content until the commission had concluded its investigation into the case.

MBC had given similar advice to the two stations in November last year after they had shown upside down photos of three members of the EC – Thowfeek, Ahmed Fayaz, and Ali Mohamed Manik – with a caption alleging that they had committed electoral fraud in the annulled September 7 presidential election.

After questioning the Supreme Court’s actions following an investigation into the alleged fraud, both Fayaz and Thowfeek were dismissed from their positions by the court earlier this month.

Following the incident, MBC sent a circular to all broadcasters noting that complaints regarding the disrespectful use of photos had led to it taking action against media outlets for violating the broadcasting code.

CEO of DhiFM Masood Hilmy told newspaper Haveeru at the time that the photo of the EC president was displayed after the Supreme Court had sent summons to the EC, but it had been removed upon MBC’s request.

The broadcasting commission is a 7-member body entrusted with implementation of broadcasting policy, regulation of broadcasting industry, and the promotion of responsible broadcasting. It was formed in 2010 under the Broadcasting Act.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

JP member files case seeking Majlis elections delay

Jumhooree Party (JP) Youth Wing President Moosa Anwar has filed a case at the Supreme Court seeking a court order to delay Saturday’s scheduled Majlis elections.

“It is a case saying that the Elections Commission must consist of at least five members including the president of the Elections Commission,” Anwar told Minivan News.

“It’s in article 168 of the constitution. Currently the Elections Commission is not complete. So I don’t believe that they can hold an election.”

The Elections Commission (EC) currently consists of three members – the mandatory quorum needed for the group to hold meetings and pass decisions –  following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of EC President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Mohamed Fayaz on charges of contempt of court and disobeying the court’s orders.

In the days following the court’s ruling, the Majlis approved Ismail Habeeb as the commission’s third member – joining existing commissioners Ali Mohamed Manik and Mohamed Farooq.

Anwar’s case also concerns the Majlis’ rejection of the Supreme Court’s ruling. A letter sent to senior government figures following the dismissals argued that the EC leadership was removed in contravention of the constitutional procedures governing their appointment and dismissal.

The letter was signed by both the Speaker of the Majlis Ahmed Shahid and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim – MP’s with the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

“I have also requested the Supreme Court to disqualify their parliament membership and also their candidacy for this election,” said Anwar.

The case was file with the court at 1:30pm today, explained the JP member, although he had yet to receive confirmation that the court had accepted the case.

The Supreme Court earlier this week advised the EC that polls could proceed, despite the failure to gain the signatures of all candidates.

Approval of the voter registry was mandated in the Supreme Court’s 16-point guideline accompanying its annulment of last year’s presidential election first round.

Anwar explained that his decision was not a party one.

“None of the JP leaders have been informed. It was done on my own,” said Anwar.

“It has nothing to do with JP or any other party. This is not a politically motivated case. You will know that the vice president of the Majlis is also a government coalition member.”

Coalition unrest

News of Anwar’s case comes as an audio clip of JP leader Gasim Ibrahim has emerged on social media which appears to indicate unrest within the governing coalition.

In preparation for the upcoming Majlis polls, the three parties in the governing Progressive Coalition – PPM, JP, and Maldives Development Alliance – had agreed to allocate constituencies among the coalition partners, with the PPM contesting 50 seats, the JP contesting 28 seats, and the MDA contesting seven seats.

In the 2:49 clip, Gasim appears to criticise President Abdulla Yameen, former President and PPM leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and Home Minister Umar Naseer.

The audio appears to have been recorded after the revote of the presidential election, held on November 9 in which candidate Gasim finished third.

The court’s decision to annul the first round of the presidential poll came after Gasim had lodged a case alleging inconsistencies within the electoral register used on September 7.

In the recording, Gasim is heard saying that it would not be “easy on the heart” to endorse Yameen as he could not forget the “suffering” of his family under President Gayoom “even if I don’t say anything about it.”

“We couldn’t support Anni [MDP’s Mohamed Nasheed] because his principles are bad. We know how things are with Yameen. They are full of brutality,” he is heard saying.

The opposition MDP meanwhile put out a statement contending that the leaked audio shows that “Honourable Gasim joined the government coalition due to intimidation and political influence.”

As a result of the alleged mistrust among coalition leaders and their efforts to exert political influence over one another, the MDP contended that living standards have fallen and government services have deteriorated in the past four months.

“MDP has always been advocating that in a presidential system the public will not benefit from a coalition government. At such a critical juncture, this [leaked] phone calls has revealed the extent to which the coalition has unraveled,” the statement read.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

High Court rules Miladhoo Council election need not be annulled

In response to a case submitted to the High Court by a candidate alleging irregularities in Noonu Atoll Miladhoo’s council election, the superior court has ruled that there is no reason why the election needs to be annulled.

Accepting that there were problems in the first election held on January 18, the Elections Commission held a revote in Miladhoo on February 15.

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Mohamed Ali from Bahaaruge of Miladhoo island then filed a case in the High Court asking for the revote to be annulled too.

The High Court maintains that there are no issues with the second vote which call for an annulment.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

EC members Manik, Farooq summoned for questioning by police

Elections Commission (EC) members Ali Mohamed Manik and Mohamed Farooq were summoned for questioning by police last night.

Farooq told the press upon emerging from the police headquarters that he was questioned about the distribution of voters on the Malé municipality special register to various constituencies in the capital.

Farooq said he answered all the questions put to him by police interrogators, declining to reveal further details.

The police summons for the pair followed questioning of dismissed EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek on Sunday night.

Thowfeek was questioned over a leaked phone conversation between himself and former President Mohamed Nasheed, during which the pair discussed the distribution of citizens on the municipal register to constituencies in Malé ahead of the parliamentary elections due to take place on March 22.

The former EC chair exercised his constitutional right to remain silent, a police media official confirmed to Minivan News yesterday (March 17).

Following the release of the phone call recording on social media, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Abdulla Rifau ‘Bochey’ – a candidate of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) for the Maafanu South constituency in the capital – filed a case with the police alleging that Thowfeek had abused his powers as the commission’s chair.

Thowfeek, however, told local media that he had offered clarifications on the municipal registry issue to any politician who had contacted him over the phone.

The commission held a number of meetings with representatives from political parties to discuss the distribution of voters on the municipal registry, he explained.

Thowfeek also said that he shared his concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s contempt of court charges against EC members with various politicians.

“I also shared this concern with President Abdulla Yameen through a text message. In that same manner, I shared my concerns with Nasheed, too,” he said.

Municipal register

In December, the EC compiled a report on electoral constituencies for the 2014 parliamentary elections, increasing voting districts from 77 to 85 in accordance with the Electoral Constituencies Act.

Citizens on the municipal register – residents without a permanent address in Malé – were distributed among constituencies in the capital following consultation with MPs representing the 11 constituencies in Malé.

In the approximately three-minute long recording that surfaced on social media, Nasheed and Thowfeek are heard discussing the redistribution of voters.

“Some of our members went to discuss the matter of the municipal register border, didn’t they? It was agreed then that Maafannu will be kept as in the final report, yes? In short, it was agreed that some changes will be brought to Henveiru and the remaining people on the register will be distributed to the four constituencies of Maafannu, yes?” Nasheed is heard asking.

Thowfeek replies, “Yes, yes, the current borders are something that everyone has agreed on.”

Nasheed then inquires, “have any additional changes been brought to the list later on the request of Maafannu [West] constituency MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem?”

In response, Thowfeek states that no such changes had been made and that Abdul Raheem had visited the commission to discuss the issue.

MP Abdul Raheem was suspended from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in January after voting to approve President Abdulla Yameen’s cabinet against the party’s three-line whip.

He did not contest in the party’s parliamentary primaries or seek re-election.

Following the leak of the phone conversation, MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem explained on Twitter that the EC “invited all members representing Malé constituencies to meet with them” on December 26 to discuss the final report on parliamentary constituencies.

“I highlighted the issue of dhafthar [municipal register] being allocated to only 1 constituency instead of distributing it equally between 4 constituencies,” he tweeted.

MPs ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Mohamed Rasheed, and Ibrahim from the MDP along with PPM MPs Ahmed Nihan and Ahmed Mahloof attended the meeting, Abdul Raheem revealed.

The final report was amended “after our contribution,” he added.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dismissed EC Chief Thowfeek summoned to police over leaked phone calls

Former Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek was summoned to police on Sunday night for questioning in an investigation regarding a leaked phone call between himself and former President Mohamed Nasheed.

In the leaked phone recordings, Fuwad and Nasheed are heard to discuss two issues – the Supreme Court case against the EC and the distribution of persons in the country’s municipal register to various constituencies.

A police media official confirmed to Minivan News that Thowfeek exercised his constitutional right to remain silent when questioned about the case.

Thowfeek was dismissed from his post by the Supreme Court earlier this month, and given a six month jail sentence, suspended for three years.

Delivering the verdict, the court contended that Thowfeek and his fellow EC members had “openly and systematically” brought the Supreme Court into disrepute, “deliberately challenged Supreme Court rulings” and “serially held [the court] in contempt” during press conferences.

The People’s Majlis subsequently declared the ruling unconstitutional, while its independent commissions oversight committee has maintained that he remains in his post despite the apex court’s verdict.

In response to the leaked recording, Thowfeek told media that he has shared concerns about the case with many politicians in addition to Nasheed, as well as having provided clarifications on the matter of the municipal register to all politicians who had requested him to do so.

Following the release of the recording on social media, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Abdulla Rifau ‘Bochey’ filed a case with the police alleging that Thowfeek had abused his powers as EC president.

The case has also been filed with the Anti Corruption Commission.

Coming out of the Police Headquarters after an hour, Thowfeek declined from commenting and was not answering calls at the time of press.

“I have nothing to say on the matter at this time,” he was reported as telling media.

EC Legal Director Haneefa Khalid accompanied Thowfeek to the police station as his legal representative.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)