Colombo, October 4: The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) led by President Abdulla Yameen has called for a transparent investigation into some serious allegations of vote rigging and graft involving the Elections Commission, so that the coming elections to the parliament are free and fair.
“The Progressive Party of Maldives has called for a transparent investigation and detailed public response on the matter by the Chair of the Elections Commission, following days of viral social media leaks involving a telephone conversation between the Chair of the Elections Commission and an unidentified individual and other material pointing to possible graft involving millions of Rufiyaa,” the PPM said in a statement on Wednesday.
The September 23 Presidential election was the “most disorganized national election in contemporary Maldivian history,” the PPM said.
President Abdulla Yameen, the PPM’s candidate in the election, was defeated by the Joint Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Incidentally in the run up the elections, the Joint Opposition had accused the Elections Commission and its chief Ahmed Shareef as being handmaidens of President Yameen.
But the tables have been turned now. It is Yameen and his PPM who are accusing Shareef of a pro-opposition bias.
“There is widespread anger over issues related to re-registration, lack of officials, massive queues at ballot stations and thousands of elections complaints involving serious violations of electoral regulations,” the PPM statement said.
“Then there were recent social media revelations of rigging and graft involving the Chair of the Elections Commission.”
The PPM statement said that the party has demanded a legal inquiry into the matter to alleviate public concerns.
The PPM has called on chairman of the Election Commission Ahmed Shareef to respond to allegations of rigging and possible collusion with coalition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s camp.
It referred to rumors of a “pen hidden inside a ring” as well as a bank transaction record of a deposit into Shareef’s personal accounts that run into millions of Rufiyaa.
“While Shareef’s current whereabouts are unknown, further revelations continue to surface, including hurried manipulation of vote counting equipment, unexplained removal of key members of the Elections Commission (EC) staff and failure to gather paperwork from polling station officials, remote access of the EC mainframe in the days leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of polling day,” the statement added.
“ The PPM believes that the EC must respond to all these allegations to reinstate public trust in the institution’s integrity and impartiality, and that all such institutions.”
“With the Maldives now focusing attention to general elections in early 2019, PPM is keen on ensuring that the independence and integrity of the institution are not eroded any further,” the PPM statement said.
