Transparency Maldives (TM) Sunday claimed that state assets and state funds were misused for incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s re-election bid.
The pre-election assessment published by TM Sunday stated that during any election, it receives several complaints of the government in place misusing state assets to campaign for their respective candidates.
Likewise, TM found that state-owned buildings and vessels were used for President Yameen’s campaign. The report also noted that civil servants were forced to take part in campaign activities and their job security was threatened when they refused to comply.
Further, the report identified amending laws and regulations and using national data on citizens for campaign strategies, as abuse of state assets.
The amendments brought to regulations on political assembly and the new defamation laws restrict the opposition’s freedom to campaign, TM had noted.
Other issues identified in TM’s pre-election include purposefully disqualifying potential candidates from running in the presidential election. Amendments were brought to the Constitution and some were sentenced on politically motivated charges, which bars them from contesting, TM’s report stated.
Vote buying and campaign financing, voter education, independence of medias, participation of women in the political arena and challenges faced by people disabilities were also identified as setbacks to the upcoming election, slated for September.
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