EC: No obstruction for PPM to produce a candidate, cannot extend deadline

Elections Commission (EC), on Friday, citing there was no obstruction for the main opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to file a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections even at present, stresses the extension to file candidacy form, set to expire on Monday, cannot be extended any further.

EC’s lawyer Mahfooz Saeed, speaking at the ongoing preliminary hearing of the constitutional appeal submitted to Supreme Court by PPM’s presidential candidate, former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom over EC’s rejection of his candidacy form, said PPM, if they desired to produce a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, has the chance to do so even now.

“Even now, if PPM were to file an additional candidate, the commission will accept. That is as no submission from PPM has been made to the commission so far, with the form submitted initially, having been rejected. The form submitted was rejected. This case is currently in progress,” he said.

EC’s Secretary General Hassan Zakariyya said an order to extend the deadline will prompt a delay in the election.

“As per the Elections (General) Act, 30 days must be provided to campaign. If the existing deadline for candidacy submission is extended, this will not be guaranteed. If the election is delayed, the whole voter’s list will need to be formulated again and the whole election will need to be restructured,” he said.

Yameen was sentenced to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bribery in connection to the sale of V. Aarah for resort development on December 25, 2022.

The EC rejected Yameen’s candidacy due to his conviction, citing Article 109 (f) of the Constitution, which disqualifies candidates who have been sentenced to over 12 months in prison for a crime, unless it has been at least three years since they have completed their sentence or have been pardoned.

Yameen appealed EC’s decision to SC, in which requested the court to declare the decision erroneous. He has also requested a court order for additional time for PPM to produce another candidate, under circumstances he loses the appeal. 

Responding to Yameen’s appeal, EC’s lawyer Mahfooz said Yameen was a criminal offender convicted by a lower court, meaning there was no legal basis for him to be an eligible candidate.

He further stated that convicts are allowed to contest for electoral posts on the basis of their sentences being up for appeal, there was a chance of dangerous offenders being elected for authoritative posts. Therefore, he said EC does not believe the law can be interpreted the way claimed by Yameen’s side, which argues the sentence stipulated in the article could be interpreted as a sentence, which has no further room for any appeal, or change. 

Although Yameen is fighting for his candidacy to be declared valid, he asked the People’s National Congress (PNC) – PPM’s coalition partner - to produce its own presidential candidate as a “backup”, in case he loses at Supreme Court. 

The PPM-PNC leadership had asked Yameen to select a presidential candidate from PNC at his own discretion thrice. However, he declined the request all three times, leaving it to the senate to decide.

The senate decided to contest the upcoming election on Thursday and voted Male’ City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu as their candidate.