Police receive complaint of threats against EC officials

Elections Commission of the Maldives (EC) has forwarded a case against a group of individuals who allegedly threatened the commission’s employees.

EC Vice President Ahmed Akram made the reveal via a Twitter post on Saturday, which reveals that a group of individuals who came to drop applications for the upcoming Local Council Elections, had threatened employees at the commission.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Akram revealed that the case was submitted to the Maldives Police Service (MPS) on Saturday morning.

Police have assured the commission that security measures may be arranged if requested, said Akram, who went onto add that the commission has the assurance to proceed with the elections safely and securely, with the cooperation from police.

Although no names have been revealed, Akram stressed that the commission is deeply concerned regarding the threats directed at its employees.

In a separate tweet, Akram wrote that threatening is an act that compromises societal peace, however, he assured the people that the commission remains steadfast in its decision to carry out the electoral process, peacefully. As such, he asserted that EC is willing to take every legal measure against those who attempt to disrupt peace.

EC officially opened the opportunity to contest in the upcoming local council elections on 5 February and Akram stated that this will be the first time the EC is scheduled to hold two different elections during one day, after the amendments made to the Decentralization Act. EC expects to receive over 6,000 candidacies and will station about 7,000 officials to be active near the ballot boxes.

1,912 candidates will be elected in both elections this year, 980 out of which is contesting for the local councils and 930 for women’s development committees.