Members of Adhaalath Party at a rally of Maldives United Opposition. PHOTO/ADHAALATH PARTY
Religiously conservative Adhaalath Party announced late Monday that they will boycott the upcoming Local Council Elections, declaring that the recent actions of the Elections Commission indicate bias towards a certain political side and that the party refuses to take part in such an election.
The party had previously decided to put forward candidates for the local elections via their coalition of Maldives United Opposition (MUO).
However, Adhaalath Party agreed to boycott the elections on Monday night and released a statement detailing the reasons behind their decision.
They accused the Elections Commission of disrupting the Maldives’ multiparty system and favouring the current ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in their decisions. Adhaalath claimed that the EC nullifying the Local Council Elections to be originally held January 14 and announcing a whole new elections for April 8 is a means to award the chairs on local councils to certain people.
The party declared that the EC has been negligent in holding the local elections as mandated in the Constitution and therefore infringed upon the rights of the people. Adhaalath Party concluded their statement asserting that they remain steadfastly opposed to the injustice of the government to the public.
The Local Council Elections were originally scheduled to be held January 14 but were postponed under orders from the Civil Court. The court order came in the wake of a case filed by PPM at the lower court seeking to delay the elections by two months, saying that recent political disputes within the party had disrupted its functioning and prevented PPM from preparing for the elections in time. The Civil Court had ruled in favour of PPM, inciting outrage and criticism from other political parties.