EC refutes minister’s claim that witness section does not need to be filled in owner’s presence
Responding to a question by MP Ziyad at Wednesday's Majlis sitting, Ihusaan claimed that if a form for joining a political party is accepted, the witness signs to attest to the information on the form
The home minister is alleged to have been involved in filling fraudulent forms to increase PNC’s membership count
The Elections Commission of Maldives has refuted Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan’s statement at the People’s Majlis that the witnesses' section does not need to be completed in the presence of the form owner.
Responding to a question from MP for Vaikaradhoo constituency Hussain Ziyad during Wednesday's parliamentary sitting, Minister Ihusaan claimed that if a form for joining a political party is accepted, the witness signs to attest to the information on the form. The minister stated that if the witness is attesting to the information on the form, the form owner does not need to be present. The minister said this was a big misunderstanding, and that even after so many years of forming political parties and recruiting members, the process is still unclear, and that MP Ziyad needs to clarify how it works. The minister also said that he understands the process very well.
However, the witness section on the form for joining political parties states that the person has signed to become a member of the political party "in their presence”, and that "they attest that the information provided is true."
In response to the home minister’s statement in parliament, Elections Commission spokesperson Abdul Rahman Solah Rasheed told RaajjeMV that the form states that the witnesses are for the person filling the form, and that the witnesses must sign in the presence of the form owner. Solah said that signing in the presence is required due to issues that have arisen previously. He also said that changes made to the form at the time, including adding phone numbers and mother's information, were also to ensure the authenticity of the form for the commission.
Another Elections Commission official who spoke to RaajjeMV said that the form would state that it was signed "in my presence," and that witnesses must sign in the presence of the form owner and that it cannot be interpreted any other way. The official also said that since the form states that they declare and sign that it was signed in their presence, the legal understanding is that it must be done in the person's presence.
With the Elections Commission stating this, it has become clear that the home minister has attempted to mislead and fabricate information in parliament about how to handle the witnesses' section of political party forms. While the minister has said that witnesses do not need to sign in the presence of the form owner and that it is done to verify information, forms were brought to the Department of National Registration (DNR) and work was carried out to complete the witnesses' section, sign, and add fingerprints.
On the day the no-confidence motion against the home minister proceeded in parliament, the minister said that when the forms were brought, the witness section was missing, so signing, fingerprinting, and completing information were being done there.
The minister said that about 50 political staff at the ministry brought about 10 forms each and that form-filling work was done inside a DNR meeting room in the evening. When the filled forms were brought, the witness section was not filled, and the work of fingerprinting, signing, and writing details in the witness section of the form was carried out there.
The home minister said he visited the location where the forms were being filled on two occasions. The first was at the invitation of political parties who "ordered pizza" and asked him to join them. The second visit occurred en route to submit the forms, after he was informed that the faxing process was incomplete.
