Would not be possible to elect a president by 11 Nov if first round is annulled: EC

The Elections Commission (EC) has said that it would not be possible to elect a president before 11 November if the first round of the presidential election, held on 7 September, is annulled.

The EC said in a statement issued today, that even though the Constitution states that a president must be elected 30 days prior to the end of every presidential term, it would not be possible to achieve this this year, if the first round has to be held again.

The EC further said in the statement that it will always strive to uphold the Constitution and the laws, and that it would like clarify the situation faced this year.

Presidential candidate of Jumhooree Party (JP), Gasim Ibrahim, has said that serious fraud was committed in the first round of the election, and filed a case to court.

JP filed the case after the EC refused to show the voters’ list, which JP accuses contains serious inconsistencies.

This was followed by a court order upon the EC to allow JP to access the voters’ list, but JP has claimed that they were not allowed by the EC to view the list in any meaningful manner.