Did not contest elections because of defeat: Gasim

Jumhoory Party leader Gasim Ibrahim has stated that he is contesting the elections in court to find justice for the people, and not because he could not accept defeat.

Speaking on VTV last night, Gasim said that he was forced to go to court because Elections Commission had refused to reveal the list of people who voted. It was for the rights of the Maldivian people, he said.

“We pleaded with their president and vice president, for the Elections Commission to give us the list. The regulation says that a recount can be decided, if it calls for that. But they had no way of doing this, so for the rights of the Maldivian people, the people will also be content if this is all clear. By no means, we did not do this because we lost a competition,” Gasim Ibrahim said.

Gasim said that he would not have to contested the case if the irregularities were minor, and accused the Elections Commission of have conducted systematic actions of fraud.

“Humans make mistakes. But this was more than a mistake. It was planned to carry out systematic things against the law. I am saying this because people who have been dead for 30 years were included in the list. People who have been dead of 20 years were included, 10 and 5 years were included, and even people who died recently, and so on.”

“The voter’s list included names of so many people who were not on the 2008 presidential elections list. Dead people have returned to this list again,” Gasim Ibrahim said.

He said that JP's court case is a statement that the law must be implemented, and that the people’s rights must be granted by the State.