Elections Commission (EC) has threatened opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who are to hold their primary elections on May 30, with dissolution.

A letter sent to the party, signed by the Commission’s President Ahmed Shareef, warned dissolution if former President Mohamed Nasheed- MDP’s co-founder and leader- is allowed to contest in the primary.

The letter said that Nasheed does not have the required qualifications to run for presidency, ‘as he has been issued a 13-year jail sentence which has been upheld Supreme Court’.

Noting that the Prisons and Parole Act prohibits inmates from holding high-level or leadership posts in political parties, EC said that Nasheed ‘is only able to stay as a member of the party’.

The letter further noted that the Commission will not accept the results of any votes that Nasheed is able to contest in, warning to take action under articles 31 and 49 of the Political Parties Act.

Article 31 on the Political Parties Act is regarding the dissolution of parties and the criteria to do so, while Article 49 is regarding the procedures in which in a political