Police have begun enforcing the Civil Court’s order to stop the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s primary election.

Officers arrived at MDP campaign sites on Wednesday to remove the ballot boxes.

The Court stated that allowing a convict, such as former President Mohamed Nasheed, to contest in the election is illegal and ordered the police service to stop the election.

This comes right after the Attorney General made the request for a court order to stop the primary election, which began at 2pm.

This follows Elections Commission (EC)’s similar request to the police service and the home ministry to stop the election.

Nasheed is the only one contesting the MDP primary election. The self-exiled opposition leader who is currently in Sri Lanka, had used video conferencing and social media to meet with supporters at his campaign rallies held across the Maldives.