Supreme Court concludes hearings on case requesting to annul election

The Supreme Court has concluded its hearings on the case filed by Jumhooree Party, requesting to annul the first round of the presidential election.

In court today, Director of the Department of National Registration, Fareedha Yoosuf, presented her statement as a witness proposed by the Elections Commission (EC).

She said that no Maldivian citizen has been issued more than one identity card.

In response to a question posed by JP’s lawyer, Dr Hassan Saeed, Fareedha Yoosuf said that a copy of the database kept by the department has been provided to EC following their request.

He said that the EC has been given access to all information included on identity cards.

The session was adjourned after Fareedha presented has statement, and resumed at 2:00 p.m.

Presenting a summary statement, Dr Hassan Saeed said that names of several dead people had been included on the voters’ list.

He said that JP had presented evidence in court to prove that votes were cast by several minors (below 18).

He said that statements made in court by the EC showed that their officials had not received sufficient training in maintaining queues at the voting stations, and in operating the BPRS system used to understand the number of people who had voted.

Lawyer representing the EC, Hussain Siraj, said that their officials had been given sufficient training in relation to the BPRS system, and that the fact that some officials were unable to operate the system does not mean that they were not given sufficient training.

Siraj said that JP was not able to prove that votes were cast under dead people’s names.

He said that JP had not presented any reason, as evidence, strong enough to call for an annulment of the election. He therefore requested the court to rule that there are no grounds to justify an annulment of the election.

Deputy Attorney General Ahmed Usham requested the court to send the necessary notices to relevant state institutions, to facilitate a free and fair election.

Lawyer representing the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Ahmed Zaneen, said that serious crimes were committed during the first round of the presidential election held on 7 September. He said that these crimes must be investigated.

The chief justice did not announce a date for the delivery of a verdict on this case, before concluding today’s session.