The Civil Court rejected Tuesday the lawsuit filed last week by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the leader of the divided ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), against PPM declaring that his control of the ruling party had been seized and handed over to its adviser and incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom unlawfully.
The court’s registrar stated in his reply to former president Maumoon that the latter had filed the case at the court’s administrative cases division. While that division can only accept lawsuits filed against state institutions listed on a Supreme Court circular and only cases regarding administrative issues, the registrar said that as PPM is neither an institution nor administration of the state, Maumoon’s case cannot be registered at that division.
Amidst the ugly public fall-out between the two Gayooms which divided PPM into two factions, lawmakers loyal to President Yameen had filed a lawsuit at the lower court against former president Maumoon, accusing him of impeding PPM’s effective functioning. The Civil Court had ruled that Maumoon hand over party control to President Yameen, and the High Court and Supreme Court had subsequently upheld the lower court’s verdict.
Maumoon had filed the case at the Civil Court last Wednesday declaring that PPM control handover had been conducted in violation of the Constitution, Political Parties Act and PPM’s charter.
He has also refused to recognise the judicial courts’ verdicts on the handover and is continuing party activities with members loyal to his faction with his own council and secretary general, separate from the activities of President Yameen and his faction of PPM.
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