The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) campaign officials have left for Ukulhas island in Alif Alif atoll, as part of its Local Council Election campaign. 

The party had also held a gathering in Fuvahmulah atoll in Gnaviyani atoll, under its campaign effort called ‘A Decentral Maldives’. 

MDP has, especially with the election of its new chair Hassan Latheef in February, galvanized their efforts for the elections, now set for April after a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) case had delayed it.

Latheef stressed on making the upcoming local council elections, scheduled for April, a priority.

“We must campaign tirelessly for this cause, the government wants us to be disenchanted, to be defeated, we must settle for nothing less than victory” he said then.

The party has also raised concerns about the potential lack of transparency of the ballots.

The police had raided the party’s gathering hall in Henveiru on Thursday, for the third time. 

Previously, on 3rd March, officers raided the two-story building hours after warning the public to ‘not engage in acts, physical and verbal, that diminish the reverence of visiting dignitaries’, on the grounds that the MDP had prepared and stored banners or posters that depict criticism of impending government dealings with Saudi Arabia.

The Local Council Elections are scheduled for April 15th, though initially ballots were to be cast on January 14th. It was delayed after the ruliing Progressive Party of Maldives' faction led by President Abdulla Yameen pursued a case at the Civil Court on the grounds that they had lost their membership database.