Maldivian takes MDP to court over unpaid campaign charters and tickets

Island Aviation Services (IAS) has filed a case against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for failing to pay MVR 5.6 million for tickets and charter flights taken by the then-ruling party from Maldivian Airlines during last year's presidential election campaign.

Managing Director of IAS Ibrahim Iyas spoke on behalf of the company which operates Maldivian Airlines, stating that the case had been filed in court yesterday after MDP had failed multiple times to meet payment deadlines for money due for their campaign travel expenses.

"We filed a case in Civil Court yesterday because MDP did not pay for the second round of campaign trips with Maldivian Airlines," he said.

The MVR 5.6 million in unpaid charges arose from tickets and charter flights taken by MDP between September and October last year.

Iyas said he had sent letters to the then-ruling party on several occasions to settle the charges. He went on to say that despite pursuing multiple deadlines, the money has still not been paid by MDP.

"MDP requested that we provide clarification on some matters. We have obliged and given them another deadline, but they have failed to meet that too with their payments," Iyas said.

Iyas added that the deadline in question had been for another 48 hours, which MDP had then agreed to, but later reneged on. He also noted that the company usually lends under stronger agreements than what the previous management had been inclined towards in this case.

Island Aviation Services has faced similar problems in the past when the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) was in power, where the then-ruling party failed to pay for flights and tickets acquired from the national carrier for travel during their presidential campaign.

IAS threatens court action if MDP does not settle dues of MVR 5.6M

The Edition