Elections postponed after misleading National Advisory Committee: Anas

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Secretary General Anas Abdu Sattar says that Elections Commission had postponed the Local Council Elections after misleading the National Advisory Committee. The Local Council Elections were slated for April 15th; it was postponed to May 6th. Anas serves as a member of the Advisory Committee.

Speaking in Sunday night’s edition of RaajjeTV’s “Fala Suruhee” program, Anas said that Commission President Ahmed Sulaiman had misled the entire Committee. He said that the Commission had informed that a meeting was scheduled for Friday at 2000 hrs.

Noting that a press conference was scheduled for 2015 hrs, he added that he had then believed that something was afoot. The Commission’s meeting started by reading out a notice sent by Health Protection Agency (HPA) to the Commission.

Anas stated that HPA had not asked for a delay in action. The agenda for the meeting was on deliberating for a date on the Local Council Elections given the outbreak of H1N1.

Anas reported that Sulaiman had clearly stated that any decision on delaying the elections will be taken on the advice of the Committee. However, Sulaiman and other members of the Committee had walked out the meeting while MDP and JP were sharing their concerns. Later on the Committee members held a press conference in another area announcing that the elections had been delayed based on the advice given by the Committee.

Anas said that when he was made aware of the decision, he had questioned Sulaiman and other Commission members. Commission member Ismail Habeeb had informed the Commission had held a separate meeting at 1930 hrs and had passed to postpone the elections.