Elections Commission (EC) has requested the police to stop the Maldivian Democratic party (MDP) primary election on Wednesday.

EC President Ahmed Shareef said that they made the request, citing the letter the Commission sent to political parties prevoiusly.

The party’s de-facto leader and former president, Mohamed Nasheed, is the only one contesting in the primaries. EC has threatened to dissolve MDP if it allows Nasheed to contest, since it is illegal for anyone serving a prison sentence, such as Nasheed, to contest in the presidential election. The now self-exiled former leader was issued a 13 year prison sentence in March 2015.

MDP is to begin the primary election at 2pm in all the islands and has set up five polling stations in capital city Malé; one for each ward.

The party has also set up polling stations in Colombo and in Kandy, Sri Lanka, as well as in Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, India.