Supreme Court to begin trial on constitutional case submitted by ruling party, on Sunday

The Supreme Court has scheduled the trial in the constitutional case filed at the court regarding the Presidential Election for Sunday.

The constitutional case was filed on Wednesday on behalf of President Abdulla Yameen by Economic ministry’s deputy minister and attorney Abdulla Siyaz and Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) Mohamed Saleem.

The Department of Judicial Administration announced the decision to accept the case on Wednesday night.

According to Saleem, President Yameen decided to file the constitutional case due to numerous complaints sent to his legal team and submitted at his party's office regarding the election which he had lost by a wide margin. The President's attorneys did not share details of the exact issues people had with election.

When questioned by RaajjeMV, Saleem said that there is no legal issue with him taking on the case while also representing President Yameen at the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

President Yameen and the ruling party had publicly accepted their defeat right after the results were announced. However, President Yameen later began encouraging his supporters to protest the election results after accusing the Elections Commission of vote rigging. The ruling party supporters have since been holding protests outside their head office.

The Supreme Court has requested the Elections Commission to answer to it before Saturday.