Voter’s List published against Supreme Court guidelines, will not sign: MDP

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has stated that the voter’s list for the 2017 Local Council Elections were published against the guidelines set by Supreme Court and due to this, the Party will not sign and endorse the list.

The Party had sent in a letter to the Elections Commission (EC) detailing the various issues with the list. The letter stated that only the list with the endorsement of candidates or their proxies can be used in the elections and displayed at the polling station. Additionally, the list must be a complete one, with the addresses, names and ID card of the voters.

MDP said this was all mandated within the guidelines but the published list did not have the mandated items.

MDP added that all elections carried out in the Maldives must be fair, free from corruption and grants the public their voting rights. As such, this was the responsibility of the EC to ensure that these aspects were fulfilled. Additionally, institutions such as EC must remain free from influence and their integrity must not be in question. The letter reminded the Commission members that it was their responsibility to ensure this.

Given the state of the list, MDP said that it was difficult for them to sign and endorse the list.

In addition to MDP, Jumhooree Party had also denied to sign the voter's list, noting similar concerns.

The Local Council Elections are slated for May 2017.