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Defiant Nasheed wins MDP primary for presidency despite MEC’s tough warnings
View(s):Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed who led his campaign from Colombo has won the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s presidential primary with more than 40,000 votes in favor, the party announced.
Mohamed Nasheed casting his vote in Nawala Pic by Nuzayyin Nazim
Speaking to media in Colombo after casting his vote on Wednesday, Mr. Nasheed told the Sunday Times he believed MDP members must have an opportunity to pick their candidate.
“The MDP has now picked its candidate. If the government is unwilling to let the MDP candidate take part in the upcoming election, it certainly will not be free and fair, or an inclusive election. It would be a facade,” he said.
Despite police obstruction followed by a court order to halt the primary in the capital Male and across the country, voting continued till midnight in 1,996 atolls and overseas, including Sri Lanka.
Mr. Nasheed, the only candidate on the list, polled 43,922 votes of the 44,011 total votes cast. This included 513 votes of MDP members living in Sri Lanka.
Only 14 members voted against him while 75 votes were invalid. More than 50,000 membres were eligible to vote. At the end of the count, Mr. Nasheed was declared the party’s candidate for the presidential election scheduled for September this year.
In Sri Lanka voting stations were set up in three locations — Nawala, Dehiwala and Kandy. Former president Nasheed, cast his vote at the Nawala voting station.
The Maldives election commission (EC) had earlier issued a warning to MDP, stating that the party could be dissolved if it allowed Mr. Nasheed to run. This was on the grounds that the former president had been convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to a 13-year jail term. Therefore, the commission claimed that in terms of the constitution, he was ineligible to contest the presidential election.
Responding to the EC statement issued ahead of the party primary, Mr. Nasheed said that legally EC had no grounds to say that. “So we believe we should proceed with the campaign and there is no legal grounds to dissolve our political party,” the exiled president said.
However, on Thursday, a day after the primary, the EC stated that it would not accept the MDP’s “unlawful” primary and would decide a further course of action against the party on Sunday.