Dr. Shainee: Representatives can join talks after passing through party councils, it’s not a condition

Fisheries Minister, Dr. Mohamed Shainee has said that the names of the representatives of the political parties have to be passed by their respective parties to take part in the official talks and it is not a set condition.

After the President’s Office said that the names would be passed at a Council Meeting of the respective political parties, Adhaalath Party said that setting conditions by other names before the discussions officially begins would cause to fail the endeavor before it begins.

PPM said that they cannot hold a Council Meeting.

Responding to questions from the press at a press conference at Velaanaage tonight, Dr. Shainee said that asking send names passed by the Councils is not a condition but a regulation. And he said that the regulation was put in place because there are times that some say “they were not sent by this party” after the talks end.

Dr. Shainee said that there would be no favoritism when following the regulation and the ruling party PPM and the coalition MDA would have to abide by it.

The Fisheries Minister said that this time around, the representatives at the official talks need to be approved by the Councils of the respective political parties.

Fisheries Minister said that some political parties are already presenting conditions such as the MDP saying that they would be joining if the talks are hosted by the UN. Dr. Shainee said that the discussions would not be hosted by the UN but they would be visiting on the government’s invitation.

Dr. Shainee said that the UN has not been official invited to the multi-party talks in the Maldives yet.