The opposition coalition and the Elections Commission (EC) have lambasted President Abdulla Yameen at Sunday’s Supreme Court hearing in the case to request an annulment of the 2018 presidential election result.

At the court hearing on Sunday, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) member Ahmed Saleem represented plaintiff President Yameen while renowned attorney Hussain Shameem represented the EC.

Hisaan Hussain represented senior members of the opposition coalition parties, who have decided to testify in the case.

At Sunday’s hearing, the plaintiff highlighted several allegations that have led to electoral fraud, including giving the contract to print ballot papers to M7 Print whose shareholders had allegedly abused this responsibility to rig the election in their favor.

The plaintiff stated that Novelty had received 32 more points during the tender process but that M7 Print was selected since its proposal featured five security features. While the tender asked for one security feature, the technical committee later decided to ask for three but did not re-open the tender because of lack of time.

The plaintiff also noted that they were not able to confirm how much ballot papers were printed since M7 Print’s machines could not be automatically audited.

They also noted that M7 consists of shareholder Khadheeja Sana, the daughter of business tycoon Qasim Ibrahim, who is also the leader of Jumhooree Party (JP), the party of vice-presidential-elect Faisal Naseem.

Qasim’s Villa Holding has a majority stake in M7, the plaintiff said, adding that M7’s other shareholder Mohamed Nadheem is also a JP council member and that Nadheem as well as Qasim’s two children Sana and Siyad Qasim are in M7’s board.

Responding to the allegations on behalf of the EC, attorney Shameem said that M7 Print was contracted to print the ballot papers after receiving a letter of approval from the finance ministry which has been presented to the court.

The plaintiff stated that the ballot papers were stored in a room with no security and that anyone could have come in or out and that more than the required amount of papers could have been printed as the machines could not be audited. The plaintiff also presented a witness to back its claim.

Shameem replied that, under the contract, police officers were present during the printing and transporting of the ballot papers and that those going in or out of the storage room were required to note their names in a logbook. He added that the plaint’s witness had never entered the room or had security clearance.

The plaintiff also claimed that the EC brought in rings with hidden markers filled with disappearing ink from China and that they have witnesses who are willing to testify that they helped bring them in and use them. However, the plaintiff asked that the testimonies of the unnamed witnesses be taken in secret.

In response, Shameem said that these ‘imaginary’ claims do not even fit the minimum standard for evidence, adding that the EC encouraged voters to bring their own pens to the polling stations and that the plaintiff should confirm when and where the rings had been used.

After the plaintiff claimed that some polling stations were set-up in a way that undermined voters’ privacy, Shameem said that this issue was fixed after authorities received the complaints and that no one filed any complaints regarding ballot papers.

The plaintiff then accused M7 Print of marking ballot papers using computer-technology received from a foreign country.

At Sunday’s hearing, attorney Hisaan Hussain accused President Yameen of fabricating claims of electoral fraud after refusing to concede defeat.

She said that the President has been unable to present any evidence to back his claims and that this case should not have been filed at the Supreme Court in the first place since the complaints were never filed at the National Complaints Bureau.

Hisaan also noted that the EC members were approved by the ruling party’s majority and that local and foreign observers have deemed the election as free and fair.

Responding to claims that the ballot papers had mark-altering chemicals in them, she presented to court a letter from the foreign company that had sold M7 Print the papers used to print the ballot papers, confirming that there had been no extra material used in the papers.

She highlighted that President Yameen and the ruling party had officially accepted defeat right after the election result was announced and that reversing their decision and putting forth complaints afterwards is against international best practices.

Senior members of the ruling party and senior government officials were also present at Sunday’s hearing.