Will begin transporting ballots to islands next week: EC
Supreme Court verdict against Hassan Moosa will see the MDP candidate win by default
President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef speaking to media officials
President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef has said that the commission will begin transporting ballots for the Local Council and Women's Development Committee elections to islands next week.
Speaking to Raajje MV, President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef stated that all ballots need for the elections in April had now been printed, and that they would be transported to voting stations across atolls next week.
Further, EC President Shareed noted that while there was a case at the Supreme Court to disqualify their candidacy against candidate Hassan Moosa for the Th. Kandoodhoo constituency, that ballots needed for that constituency had also now been printed. He added that no further ballots would be printed for the constituency regardless of the Supreme Court's verdict on the legitimacy of Hassan Moosa's candidacy.
EC Preisdent Shareef went on to explain that should Hassan Moosa's candidacy be disqualified, the seat would go to the candidate contesting for the Th. Kandoodhoo constituency from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). He further highlighted that the candidate would be removed from the ballot in that case.
While the Supreme Court had first declared that the EC's disqualification of Hassan Moosa's candidacy as illegitimate, the EC has since lodged a case at the Supreme Court to have Hassan Moosa's candidacy disqualified once more.
Candidate Hassan Moosa is contesting for a Local Council seat from the Th. Kandoodhoo constituency under the ticker for Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). The Supreme Court had ruled in his favor initially calling the EC's decision to disqualify his candidacy as illegitimate, as it had been done so 48 hours after he had been formally recognized as a candidate. In the court's verdict, it had been noted that in this case, his candidacy could only be disqualified under an order from the Supreme Court.
The EC had pushed to have Hassan Moosa's candidacy dissolved as the Department of Judicial Administration had notified EC that Hassan Moosa had been failing to make regular payments on a debt proven against him.
The Elections Commission is now making final preparations for the upcoming Local Council and WDC elections, scheduled to be held on 10 April 2021. As such, in addition to training elections officials, the commission is working to improve awareness on voting and execute the year's elections despite difficulties of Covid-19.
