Leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) Gasim Ibrahim has said that serious fraud was committed in the first round of the presidential election, and that it is like “a big, mixed salad”.

Gasim said this while speaking on Fasmanzaru program on VTV last night.

Referring to the voters’ list, he said that several names, including names of the deceased, were repeated on this list.

“It’s possible that the same dead person’s name appeared under more than one house. So even if it’s removed under one house, it still remains under four other houses. We have seen the same name repeated thrice. So it’s not surprising. A big, mixed salad – that’s what this is,” he said.

Gasim said that efforts by JP to investigate such issues were obstructed by the Elections Commission, and therefore unsuccessful.

He said that following a court order, JP’s officials were given two hours to view the voters’ list, and not even allowed to touch the list.

Gasim said that he will accept the Supreme Court ruling on the case filed by JP to nullify the election results, regardless of which party the court rules in favour of.

“We will sincerely accept the Supreme Court ruling. Afterwards, we will not say a word, regardless of which party they rule in favour of. We believe their ruling will be fair,” he said.

He stressed that neither the parliament nor the public has the right to contest Supreme Court rulings.

Gasim also called Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to cease the efforts to take a vote of no-confidence against Attorney General Azima Shakoor. He said that it is time to move past holding personal grudges against people.

He also urged MDP to refrain from activities that might incite civil strife.

He said that MDP would not succeed in its efforts to intimidate Supreme Court judges, or reduce the number of Supreme Court judges.