The Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, claimed on Monday that the Maldives Democratic Party's (MDP) membership registry has been tampered with and that a primary held with the current registry with the reduced number of members will not be just.
MDP is gearing up to hold its biggest internal election on 28 January, 2023. On this date, the ruling party will vote in the primary election to select a presidential candidate for the presidential election that will be held later in the year.
In a letter addressed to the MDP's Chairperson, Minister of Economic Affairs Fayyaz Ismail, Nasheed alleged that the party's registry was rigged. He said that while around 40,000 members are eligible to vote in the primary election, some of them have been removed from the party without any notice.
"If the primary election is held while this (tampered registry status) is true, I do not believe the election will be a free and fair one," Nasheed wrote in a letter he publicised.
"A primary election in which 40 percent of the party's members who joined voluntarily are not allowed to vote, will have a negative impact on the party during the presidential election in 2023."
Nasheed urged the primary election to be open to all MDP members listed on the original registry.
Regarding Nasheed's allegations, the Deputy to MDP's Chairperson, Ibrahim Waheed, said the party removes members from its registry if a member requests to terminate their membership on their own or if the Elections Commission (EC) informs them the member has signed with another political party.
Earlier in the year, MDP's national congress passed a motion to remove members that belonged to other parties before they held the chairperson election. Membership status was confirmed, and if a person was found to have registered with other political parties, they were eliminated from the party's registry.
While Nasheed declared his intention to run for president, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has also announced that he will be seeking re-election for a second term.
The primary election will have the incumbent president of the Maldives and the only other MDP president contesting to win the party's presidential ticket.
When Nasheed announced his candidacy via a Tweet, he had also requested all party members to vote for him.
Recently, MDP's internal politics have been fraught, and the party appears to be divided into two factions: one supporting President Solih and another supporting Speaker Nasheed. Both factions have started campaigning for the primary election.
The two candidates have opposing political views, which have resulted in the deterioration of a lifelong friendship as well as their working relationship. The conflict began when Nasheed wanted to change the governing system from a presidential to a parliamentary one in the middle of President Solih's term. As the Speaker of Parliament, the move would give him the opportunity to become Prime Minister of the Maldives. However, Solih had stated that a change in the governing system could only be determined after holding a referendum and amending the constitution.
The MDP primary election will mark the most significant political move the party has undertaken recently.
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