Most of the 5,626 re-registry forms that were rejected by the Elections Commission (EC) over legitimacy issues, were submitted by members of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), claimed the opposition coalition's presidential candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (Ibu) on Friday.
The EC on Thursday night had revealed the names of over 5,000 people whose re-registry forms were annulled over legitimacy issues, mainly with fingerprints. The commission had stated that the voters in question were being informed of the issues, and that they would receive the chance to resubmit their re-registry forms between coming Monday and Wednesday.
In the wake of this new development, Hinnavaru MP Ibu proclaimed that most of the rejected re-registry forms belonged to members of the main opposition party, of which he is the parliamentary group leader.
Speaking to the people of Ungoofaaru during his ongoing campaign trail to Raa Atoll, Ibu accused the EC and ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) of manipulating the re-registry forms. He asserted that he would not step back in the face of the government's alleged attempts to commit election fraud.
Speaking to the people of Ungoofaaru, Ibu also touched upon the murder of Dr. Afrasheem Ali, the former lawmaker of the island constituency.
"Dr. Afrasheem was a very dear friend of mine. The last time we met at the parliament, he told me that MDP was the political party he wanted to join, but he had remained in PPM out of respect and love for President Maumoon," he said, referring to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who is currently working with the joint opposition.
"The past six or so years were the most fearful and dangerous times the Maldives has seen. After Dr. Afrasheem, another 31 people were murdered on the streets in unknown ways, out of which 23 were youths," he noted, vowing that his government would investigate all such cases and bring the perpetrators to justice, should he win the upcoming Presidential Election slated for September 23.
Sign In