EC orders proposed Labour Party name change

Elections Commission has ordered lawyer Abdullah Haseen, to make changes to the name of the party, Maldives Labour and Social Justice Party (Labour Party), that he has proposed to register.

The requested party name, 'Maldives Labour and Social Justice Party' was confirmed to have been denied in a Tweet sent out by the Elections Commission.

However, the reason behind this is yet be revealed as the translator of Elections Commission, Ahmed Akram was unavailable for a statement.

According to sources, Elections Commission issued a letter to Haseen proposing him to implore a better suited name for the registering of the Labour Party.

Former MDP member Haseen on Tuesday, declared that he had not been informed about the reason for nullifying the party name, further stating that he is currently debating between waiting for the Elections Commission to reveal its reasoning and opting for new name to move forward with his party proposal.

Furthermore, Haseen also mentioned that the objective driving him to registering the proposed party is to provide more access to the the rights of laborers and establish social justice.

He believes that this goal is attainable only with the registration of a party focused solely on these matters.

If granted permission, Haseen says he would pursue the required 3000 signatures for the registering of the party and make the party official before the upcoming Sept 23 elections.

Two more parties have requisitioned Elections Commission to formally be registered. However, they have been denied permission due to a number of reasons.

Haseen is one of the lawyers that represented Hussain Humaam, who was infamously sentenced to death in connection to the murder of Dr. Afraasheem. An active former participant at multiple MDP rallies, Haseen has insisted that his decision to leave MDP was not based on any cross-fires between him and the party.

The registration of any political party requires a minimum of 3000 willing signatures. In addition, the allocated government grant will only be received upon the registration of at least10,000 members to any particular party.

Currently, there are six registered parties in the Maldives. These include the ruling party PPM, the largest opposition party MDP, Jumhooree Party, Adhaalath Party, DRP and MDA.