The Jumhooree Party’s deputy leader Abdulla Riyaz has said that he was summoned for police questioning over the party’s recruitment tactics.

He said after the questioning on Sunday night, that officers had asked him how the Jumhooree party acquires members, reportedly in relation to the bribery and intimidation charges against party leader Qasim Ibrahim.

Officers reportedly asked him how the party approaches potential members, how they are recruited, and the method through which it assigns elections tickets.

Riyaz said that he had answered all their questions to the best of his ability, and that he hopes his answers would prove that the charges against Qasim Ibrahim are baseless.

He added that he believes that another member of the party would be summoned for corroboration of Riyaz’s testimony.

The police have been investigating allegations that opposition parliamentarians had threatened and bribed pro-government MPs ahead of the, now failed, vote of no-confidence against parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh.