Presidential candidate for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), former president Mohamed Nasheed has directed harsh criticism towards the Supreme Court of the Maldives.
Speaking at a new conference in Mandhu College on Saturday night, former president Nasheed accused the Supreme Court of acting against the law in their annulment of the September 7th presidential election. He said that neither the Supreme Court verdict nor ruling had evidence or legal justification to warrant the annulment.
Nasheed said that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to issue guidelines to direct an election. The Supreme Court has violated the constitution and laws of the State in issuing a guideline and mandating elections, he said.
Nasheed said that the Supreme Court order upon the Elections Commission to re-open the re-registration process is completely unrelated to the Supreme Court ruling to annul the election. He said that the court’s constant directives to dictate how the election should be stage is starting to prove that the Supreme Court does not understand the core of the problem, or how to properly direct an election.
He accused the Supreme Court bench of possessing heavy political inclinations and said that it is duly reflected in the orders they continue to issue.
When asked of his view on the case filed recently in Supreme Court asking to bar him from the presidential election, Nasheed said that his candidacy cannot be nullified and that the he has the support of the Maldivian people.
Nasheed said that he is confident that fresh polls will be held on the 19th of this month and that he will win the election with a landslide. He accused rival candidates of trying to stall the election.
Redirecting his comments to the Supreme Court, Nasheed said that four of the seven judges on the court’s bench are a threat to national security. However, he did not identify the four judges.
He had full confident in the Supreme Court bench when he appointed them, Nasheed said, but said that their true colours are now evident. Nobody is above the law, including Supreme Court judges, Nasheed said.