Maldives Joint Opposition Parties have revealed that Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) is obstructing the political prisoners' right to vote.

When legal representatives of prisoners and some members of the opposition coalition had attempted to meet with corrections officials to discuss the re-registration procedure of political prisoners, the officials at MCS had not met with them.

The re-registration process for jailed former senior state officials as well as political prisoners, is yet to be carried out.

Speaking to the press outside of the corrections premises, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s lawyer Mohamed Faisal had said that the re-registration process for political prisoners had not been carried out through even when they checked a few minutes before meeting with MCS officials.

However, officials at the MCS had refused to meet with jailed politicians lawyers, asking them to request for appointments.

Lawyer Faisal expressed deep concern regarding the MCS’s negligence in taking care of the re-registration procedures of jailed politicians when they request it to be done, stressing that while a long time has passed since some prisoners had handed their re-registration forms to officials of the MCS, the service is yet to submit the forms at the Elections Commission.

Also speaking to the press, main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Secretary General Anas Abdul Sattar said that it is not acceptable for state institutions to carry out any acts that obstruct the voting rights of political prisoners. Anas stressed that it is a matter of deep concern that the voting rights of citizens is being deprived because of the actions of a state institution.