Former President Mohamed Nasheed has said that his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s candidates for next year’s parliamentary election will be decided through a primary.
This comes after the immense criticism directed towards him and the opposition coalition, following reports that Nasheed had guaranteed the 12 lawmakers- who were recently reinstated after 15 months- that the party will support them in the upcoming election ‘without going through a primary’.
The 12 lawmakers were deemed to have lost their seats after they supported an impeachment motion against then Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, subsequently leaving the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). They were dismissed using a floor crossing ruling issued days after their departure, with the Elections Commission deciding that the ruling will be applied retrospectively. Supreme Court, in October this year, ruled that the Commission had misapplied the ruling in unseating the lawmakers.
Former President Nasheed met with the 12 MPs on Monday, after which it was reported that he had guaranteed them that they will be awarded a party ticket for the parliamentary election, without having to go through a primary.
While MDP supporters took to social media to express their disapproval over the matter, Nasheed on Tuesday morning tweeted that he believes that MDP’s candidates “should be decided through a primary”, adding that internal democracy is vital to the party’s existence.
Further noting that “a very few political parties across the world” hold primaries for parliamentary election, the former president emphasized that MDP has experienced both the “advantages and disadvantages” of this.
On Monday, MDP’s vice president Mohamed Shifaz also claimed that its tickets for the 2019 election will be awarded through a primary.
Following reports that Nasheed had guaranteed the 12 MPs party tickets without primaries, opposition coalition partner and leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said that “all coalition partners have already agreed to support the candidacy of the 12 MPs in their respective constituencies without going through a primary”.
The 2019 parliamentary election is scheduled for March.
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