Opposition Jumhooree Party to reappoint party leader
The position has been vacant since party founder and leader Qasim Ibrahim was convicted on bribery charges
Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim is greeted by fellow MP Mohamed Waheed (L) upon his return to the Maldives on October 4th, 2018
The Jumhooree Party (JP) has announced that it is opening up the opportunity for interested individuals to apply for the post of leader, after the High Court overturned founder Qasim Ibrahim's jail sentence.
Qasim had lost this position after having been sentenced to imprisonment back in August 2017.
JP's announcement comes after the High Court on Monday overturned Qasim’s three-year prison sentence, making him eligible for the position that he has held since the party's inception. The High Court bench found that the proceedings for Qasim’s case was inconsistent with procedure, with the sentence having been passed by a single judge in absentia for bribery charges that were dropped earlier.
At High Court proceedings, Qasim’s defence had put forth 13 points on which the verdict should be declared invalid, including the basis for which the opposition leader was sentenced in absentia, and prosecutors defending the conviction had attested that given the circumstances, that method of sentencing is not valid.
Criminal Court proceedings for the case were held in July, and Qasim had to be taken to the hospital while en route to a hearing due to hyperventilation and a fit of nausea. Qasim was taken to a cardiologist that said he had an irregular heartbeat and respiratory complications for which he ordered scans that could not be carried out in the required urgency in the Maldives.
The motion to fill the now vacant position passed with 61 votes in favour at JP’s 123rd council meeting, held Monday night. The motion was put forth by party president Ali Waheed, who joined JP shortly before the presidential elections and was a member of two different political parties with stark ideological differences before fleeing a wave of arrests described as incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s crackdown on dissent.
After Qasim’s arrest and subsequent departure from the country, JP’s activities are overseen by deputy leader Hussain Rasheed Hassan. The party and its coalition partners, who fielded a candidate that won the presidential elections held in September, have maintained that Qasim was convicted unjustly.
