The Maldives government has criticized the scathing report of the European Union (EU)’s Electoral Follow-up Mission (FEM) that took place from 8 to 11 January.

The EU mission had assessed the implementation of the 22 EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the 2014 parliamentary elections, and its subsequent report released on Thursday found that the electoral reforms ‘have not been a priority on the domestic political agenda.’

In a press release published by the foreign ministry later that day, the government stated that the EU mission’s report has disregarded the progress of the implementation process since 2014.

The government stated that it had conveyed to the EFM team in January it is working with the relevant stakeholders, to incorporate the recommendations. “As such, a Draft Bill consisting of the changes being brought to the electoral framework has been formulated," the government stated.

In the press release, the government highlighted that the draft bill will aim to establish clear boundaries between the functions of the Elections Commission (EC), Anti-corruption Commission (ACC), Prosecutor General (PG)’s Office and the Maldives Police Service (MPS), as well as incorporate the 16-pointer guideline issued by the Supreme Court of Maldives in 2013, pertaining to voter registration.

“The draft bill also addresses election offences and proposes to penalize additional offences related to elections. Additionally, the bill sets forth specific timelines for registration and re-registration of voters, and for the Elections Commission to publicize the voters list. It will further propose guidelines to ensure that the campaign finances are accounted for and are in the interest of allowing a fair campaign ground for all candidates and establish guidelines to be followed by media in allocating campaign time slots.”

In response to the EU’s call for religious freedom in the Maldives, the government stated that Islam is the basis of all laws in the country and therefore “will not entertain any recommendation calling for the review or the revision of Article 9 and Article 73 of the Constitution” pertaining to non-Muslims not being allowed to become Maldivian citizens or members of parliament, respectively.

The government also claimed that the mission’s report contained “misconstrued facts” regarding the Supreme Court’s order issued on February 1, and the events that followed.