Supreme Court concludes hearings on election case filed by PPM

The Supreme Court has concluded its hearings on the case filed in relation to the election by the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Lawyer representing PPM, Ahmed Zaneen Adam, made three requests while presenting the case in court today.

Zaneen requested the court to issue an order to ensure security and safety when the ballot papers are printed and transported to the ballot stations, and when they are transported to the Elections Commission after voting is completed.

Zaneen also requested for an order upon the Elections Commission to give two weeks to solve the problems with the voters list.

The final request made by Zaneen in court today was for an order to make it mandatory to have all presidential candidates’ names, signatures and fingerprints on the final voters’ list.

Zaneen said that there are names of minors (below 18) on the voters’ list, and that their names were included on the list by changing their date of births.

He said that this was done to confer undue advantage on a particular group of people in the first round of the presidential election.

He further accused the Elections Commission of having violated the guidelines included in the court ruling on the case filed by PPM ahead of the presidential election.

Lawyer representing the Elections Commission, Hussain Siraj, said that the relevant laws make it mandatory for the commission to carry out several activities within given periods of time.

He requested the court to rule that it would not be possible to issue the orders requested by PPM, given the country’s present legal framework.