Ex-JP youth wing leader files court appeal to hold second round of voting to pick opposition running mate

Former Jumhooree Party (JP)’s youth league leader Moosa Anwar has filed an appeal at the Civil Court to hold a second round of voting to pick the opposition coalition parties’s running mate.

While the opposition coalition decided to back a JP member as their running mate, the party council, in a secret voteon July 13, elected MP Faisal Naseem as the running mate.

Naseem won with 15 votes, a difference of one vote more than Kendhoo MP Ali Hussain who received 14.

At the council meeting, the JP council members stated that there was one invalid vote.

Anwar in his appeal claimed that the invalid vote was for Ali Hussain, making him tie with Faisal, and so called for a second round of voting.

The ballot paper had crossed off the names of the other three candidates, and had left the box for Hussain empty, Anwar said, adding that this means that this would not be considered an invalid vote.

Four candidates had vied for the position of the opposition coalition’s running mate. They are JP deputy leader Dr. Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, JP deputy leader Abdulla Ameen, Faisal and Ali Hussain.

While Anwar has made his court appeal, Ali Hussain congratulated Naseem’s win immediately after the announcement was made and begun to work in the campaign activities with Faisal and the opposition coalition’s presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.