MDP prepares for primary election on May 30

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has announced that they are fully prepared for the party primaries planned for the 30th of this month.

While speaking at the press conference held at MDP Office on Monday night, party's Vice President (VP) Mohamed Shifaz said that MDP does not believe the police will interrupt the primary election organized prior to 1st of June which is the deadline provided by Elections Commission (EC).

Meanwhile, talks of EC ordering the police to bar MDP's primary if it is held with Former President Mohamed Nasheed's candidacy, have spread. Member of Parliament (MP) for Galolhu Dhekunu Constituency, Ahmed Mahloof has tweeted saying, 'Election Commission has asked Maldives Police to stop MDP’s presidential primary on 30th'. He also added that it is 'another appalling move' by the commission which proves that the upcoming election will not be 'free, fair and inclusive'.

However, neither the police nor EC has commented regarding the issue.

VP Shifaz also informed the media that ballot boxes and papers have been sent to all the locations allocated for voting in the atolls and abroad.

VP Shifaz briefing press

Furthermore, MDP's elections committee's Chairperson Mohamed Ibrahim briefed the press that voting will take place from 02:00 pm till 12:00 am on 30th May 2018, while locations allocated for voting include all the inhabited islands in the Maldives, Colombo and Kandy in Sri Lanka, Trivandrum and Bangalore in India, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia as well as London, UK.

While MDP has planned to place five ballot boxes for Male' citizens, ballot boxes will be placed in Hulhumale' and Villimale' as well. Furthermore, the party has decided to place ballot boxes for individuals from atolls who live in the capital city at MDP Office and the party's campaign office.

As per MDP's general regulation, the party established a committee of five members to oversee their primary election. The five members include MDP's Chairperson Hassan Latheef, VP Mohamed Shifaz, Male' City Council Mayor Shifa Mohamed, Youth Wing's President Meekail Naseem and the Chairperson of the party's elections committee Manik.

MDP also announced that they are currently making the final preparations under the supervision of the said committee.

While President Mohamed Nasheed is the only candidate running in the party primaries, in addition to his application form, a pledge with the signature of 7,739 members who support his candidacy was also applied to MDP office.

President Nasheed is currently holding campaign activities across the Maldives under the name 'Jazeera Raees' which translates to island president. The former president who lives in exile continues to interact with the public through online conference calls.