57,000 eligible to vote in MDP presidential primary

Over 57,000 members are eligible to vote in Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s upcoming presidential primary, according to the voter’s list released by the party.

MDP released its tentative voter’s list on Wednesday.

According to the party, members have the opportunity to submit complaints regarding the list until 04:00 pm Sunday, January 1.

According to the tentative list, total 57,714 members are eligible to vote in the primary.

The figure is significantly lower than the over 93,000 members who had been eligible to vote in the internal elections held back in May.

Over 39,000 members were removed as part of efforts to make the party’s membership register align with Elections Commission’s register.

MDP leader and Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, who is running in the primary against President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, alleges it as an attempt to fix the upcoming vote.

However, MDP’s deputy chairperson Ibrahim Waheed (Iburey) denied the allegation, stating that only members registered to other parties were removed.

The upcoming primary has deepened the divide within MDP.