Civil Court of the Maldives has dismissed the case filed to overturn the results of the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) primary election.
The case, filed by Ali Amjad, states that the primary election is not legitimate as 39,000 members were unable to cast their vote after MDP dismissed them without completing the necessary procedures. As such, the complainant requested the court to order the main ruling party to hold another primary election.
However, the Civil Court dismissed the case after stating that the complainant is not a member of the MDP, despite his attorney claiming that his name was on the voters’ list for the MDP chairperson election. The court stated that the Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) confirmed that he was registered as a member of the Jumhooree Party (JP) at the time.
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.
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.
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.