Technical failures at DJA cost candidate chance to contest local council elections

A prospective candidate for the upcoming Local Council Elections has lost the opportunity to submit a candidacy application after the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) failed to issue a required criminal record clearance, citing technical difficulties.

The issue was faced by Abdul Majeed, who had announced his intention to contest as an independent candidate for the presidency of the K. Guraidhoo Island Council.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Majeed noted that he submitted his request for criminal record clearance two to three days in advance. By 9am on Sunday, he was informed that his record had been cleared by 192 out of 193 courts. Other candidates who submitted their clearance requests on the same day reportedly did not face similar difficulties.

Sunday marked the deadline for submitting candidacy forms and Majeed stated that he made extensive efforts through multiple channels to resolve the issue before the cut-off time.

Upon further inquiry, it was determined that the pending clearance was from the V. Thinadhoo Court. When contacted, the court initially stated that the delay was due to the sole staff member responsible for processing clearances being on sick leave. This explanation later changed, with the delay attributed instead to an unspecified technical issue preventing completion of the process.

Majeed further told RaajjeMV that he then attempted to obtain clearance through the V. Felidhoo Court. He was initially told the process could be completed there and that the court had the authority to clear records related to Thinadhoo. At one stage, the Thinadhoo Court reportedly responded that Majeed’s name was not on its list. The information provided to him was inconsistent, and when the Felidhoo Court later attempted to process the clearance, he was informed that the application was being held up at the Malé office.

Subsequent attempts by Majeed’s team to seek clarification at the DJA office did not produce clear answers. Despite efforts that continued from morning until 5:30pm, no adequate explanation was provided. At approximately 11am, he was informed that there was a technical error with the form and DJA reportedly stated that 12 forms were affected by similar issues. He was further told by the judiciary that the matter would be resolved by 12pm and that a request had been sent to the IT team.

Majeed also stated that a DJA representative suggested the technical issue remained unresolved because the technical team was away at a resort attending a workshop. When he requested official documentation confirming that he was unable to submit his candidacy due to a technical failure, the request was denied on the grounds that the Chief Judicial Administrator had not issued specific instructions regarding such documentation.

As a result, the deadline for candidacy submission elapsed before Majeed was able to file his application. He stated that he intends to escalate the issue of his candidacy to the relevant authorities. The incident has occurred amid public and opposition allegations that the government is using DJA to deliberately delay criminal record clearances in order to target and obstruct rival candidates.

In addition to this, the decision to conduct the entire candidacy submission process exclusively through an online system has drawn significant public scrutiny and raised further questions.