EC rejects opposition appeal to postpone parliamentary election

Elections Commission (EC) on Saturday rejected the request to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections, submitted by opposition coalition partners Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC).

PPM and PNC had submitted the request to both the electoral watchdog and parliament, stating that the current political atmosphere was not conducive to a free and fair election as PPM's leader and former president, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, is currently under arrest.

Yameen is detained until the end of his trial, after the state charged him with money laundering over USD 1 million deposited in his personal bank account from the funds embezzled from Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation.

EC member Ahmed Akram stated that there were no legal grounds to push back the election, and that it will proceed according to the current schedule.

PPM had previously sought to postpone the last Local Council Elections in 2017 as well. The Civil Court had ruled in their favour at the time.

According to EC, 395 candidates are running for the 87 constituencies of parliament in the April elections, with most contesting as independent candidates.