MDP Accuses PNC of Signing Over 3,000 of their Memebers to PNC

Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) said yesterday they have received complaints that over 3,000 of their members have been “stolen” and signed onto People’s National Congress (PNC)

In a press conference held by MDP’s legal team, lawyer Mahfooz Rasheed said they filed 68 of these complaints with the police. They submitted these complaints with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as well.

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“The people that have signed as witnesses provided false witness statements. [We] can consider the statements that these signatures were made in front of the witnesses as false statements. Therefore, we have requested the police to investigate this problem,” Mahfooz said.

He said they had requested the police investigate how this was carried out and filed the same request with the ACC since state resources were used for it.

“In addition to submitting these cases to these institutions, we have requested the Prosecutor General (PG) to order them to investigate it further as well,” Mahfooz said in Dhivehi.

He said MDP had sought an order from the PG as the PG had previously issued an order to investigate when a case about public interest was filed with them similar to this one.  He added that the party has also submitted a proposal to the Elections Commission (ECM) to pause processing any forms submitted by the PNC until these cases are investigated.

Mahfooz said the EC’s decision not to process any forms submitted by any political party in connection with fake forms should be reversed. He said the entry of members into political parties is a constitutionally guaranteed right that cannot be taken away. ECM should not halt political parties from entering members to their parties because a particular party submitted fake forms, he said.

It is not possible for all political parties to stop the entry of members because a particular party has submitted fake forms, he said.

“What has come to light is a heinous crime committed by a particular party in the name of its members to increase its membership. This is a problem to which the Political Party Act has provided a solution. Section 49(a) of the Act says that if a person’s name is illegally nominated for membership of the party, the person who does so can be fined between MVR 5,000 and MVR 10,000,” Mahfooz said.

MDP said that while the police are investigating the case, allegations have been levelled against Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihsan, who is in charge of the police department. The party said the first thing that needs to be done is to clarify what happened. Neither the minister nor the government has said anything about it so far.

The party said that the forms were filled using state printers and other means and that utilisation of state resources in any matter of a political party amounts to corruption. The leaked photographs prove this, the party said. They said it is unacceptable that Minister Ihsan was at the site of the work while he is also in charge of the investigation agency.

Speaking at the press conference, lawyer Anas Abdul Sattar said that while Vaikaradhoo MP Hussain Ziad has been accused of fraudulently added to PNC, his removal from PNC’s registry and re-entry into MDP is also worrying.

“I am of the view that the Elections Commission cannot take any step regarding the change made to the constitution regarding the change of parliament members from one party to another. This step will have to be taken directly by the Supreme Court,” Anas said. 

With the recent constitutional amendment, a member can lose their seat if they switches political parties. However, when MP Ziad, who was a member of parliament, switched sides, the issue was not brought to the notice of the EC either. Later, when MDP lodged a complaint, he was removed from the PNC’s list and re-inducted into the party’s fold, but the matter did not come to light.