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People's National Congress gears up for party congress

Ahmed Aiham
17 April 2019, MVT 20:06
Leading members of PPM and PNC during PNC's national congress gathering. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI / MIHAARU
Ahmed Aiham
17 April 2019, MVT 20:06

People's National Congress (PNC), spearheaded by former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, is set to host its Congress this month.

PNC's acting President and current Fonadhoo MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla stated that an official date will be announced later.

The Elections Commission (EC) officially registered the party on January 31.

According to the Political Parties Act, parties must arrange its inaugural congress within three months of registration and appoint members to its leadership positions. Hence PNC is required to host its Congress by April 31, or risk being penalized by the commission.

EC member Ahmed Akram stated that the commission encourages all parties to operate within the confines of the constitution, asserting that EC retains the authority to take action against the party, should they violate the law.

Abdul Raheem's two interim Vice-Presidents are former minister of economic development and Maavashu MP-elect Mohamed Saeed, and former minister of defence and Maduvvari MP-elect Adam Shareef.

Former President Yameen announced efforts to establish the new political party during December 2018, attributing the decision to a legal dispute over the leadership of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

The cases, which sought to hand over PPM's leadership from Yameen to his estranged half-brother, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, were filed at the Civil Court by Ahmed Rasheed and Ali Ahmed, two civilian members of the party.

The case files were forwarded to the Supreme Court after PPM filed complaints claiming that the lower court could not look into the cases.

During the verdict hearing, Chief Justice Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi stated that both the High Court and Supreme Court had previously upheld the Civil Court's ruling to hand over PPM's leadership to Yameen in 2016, who at the time was the party's adviser. The Chief Justice further highlighted that both courts had also upheld the decisions taken in PPM's Extraordinary Congress last September.

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