Joint Opposition boycotts meetings with EC, claims commission is serving ruling party

The allied opposition parties are boycotting the Elections Commission’s meetings ahead of the ballots slated for later this year, claiming that the commission is serving the interests of the ruling party.

The commission, the statutory body tasked with regulating political parties and setting up elections, announced this week that they will be meeting with local political parties, separately.

Jumhooree Party’s secretary-general Ahmed Sameer said that the party and its coalition partners will not be attending any meetings with the commission, and would not give them the information they have asked for.

Sameer further told RaajjeMV that the commission’s ‘duplicitous’ intent in this regard was made blatantly obvious by them slashing the process of inclusive meetings where all parties are present, and opting for separate meetings.

The parties have previously taken issue with the commission’s recently appointed president, Ahmed Shareef, who is a known supporter of the government. His appointment was expedited in parliament and he was sworn-in to the commission and appointed president within a span of just a day.

Elections Commission member Ahmed Akram told RaajjeMV that they have not asked any parties for additional information. Akram said that they are not asking for any information, but wants to ‘provide information’.