Civil Court of the Maldives has accepted the case filed to overturn the results of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary election.
Three separate cases were filed to overturn the election results and the Civil Court accepted the case filed by Ali Amjad. The first hearing will be held on February 26.
The case states that the regulations of MDP dictate that dismissing members is an action taken against the member, but that the main ruling party dismissed 39,000 members without completing the necessary procedures. It states that the primary election is not legitimate as the dismissed members were unable to cast their vote.
MDP has awarded the presidential ticket to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to contest in the upcoming presidential election on behalf of the main ruling party. The ticket was handed over to President Solih after he defeated Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed to win the primary election.
Speaker Nasheed has since accepted defeat. He previously questioned the results and submitted multiple complaints to the party’s election committee. The committee has stated that no result-changing complaint was submitted.
In the primary election held on January 28, President Solih secured the MDP presidential ticket in a landslide victory after defeating Speaker Nasheed. President Solih won the primary election with 61%, which is 24,572 votes, while Speaker Nasheed received 39%, which is 15,631 votes.