Nasheed: Unfair to hold primary while MDP’s registry is mixed up

Parliament Speaker, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s leader Mohamed Nasheed, on Monday, remarked that a primary held while the party’s registry remains mixed up will not be fair.

He made the remark in a letter sent to MDP’s Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail.

In his letter, Nasheed stated that he would be contesting in MDP’s primary for 2023’s presidential election. It further stated that the sudden omission of approximately 40,000 members from the party’s registry led to the mix-up of the registry.

“I do not believe a primary held under such circumstances would be an independent and a fair election,” the letter read.

Nasheed further said that a primary held after infringing the rights of 40 percent of members of the party will adversely impact the presidential election – which contradicts with interests of the party.

Citing these reasons – Nasheed urged to ensure the rights of all party members listed in the voters’ registry.

MDP announced its decision to hold the primary on January 28^th, 2023, on Sunday morning.

Nasheed, via a tweet on Sunday evening, announced his intention to compete in the primary. In his tweet, he also appealed to all party members to vote for him.

As per MDP’s announcement, individuals who are interested in contesting in the presidential election on MDP’s ticket can put forth their candidacy for the primary starting today till December 24^th.

Interested individuals have been instructed to submit their applications with the support of 500 members from the party before 4:00pm on December 24^th.

The announcement also specified a timeline for the primary, which is as follows;

December 18^th – Announcement of date for primary, applications open

December 24^th – Deadline to submit candidacy

January 3^rd – Announcement of final voters list for the primary

January 28^th – Voting in the primary

While the party has announced its primary – President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has expressed his interest in running for a second term, also confirming his decision to compete in MDP’s primary.

The primary comes at a time MDP is divided into two factions – in a major internal conflict. One faction rally behind Nasheed, while the other, President Solih.