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MDP forms election committee amid disagreements

An election committee for the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) 's upcoming presidential primary has been formed amid heated debates in the party's National Assembly.

MDP has scheduled its presidential primary for January 28, 2023. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and MDP's President, Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, will go head to head in the highly-anticipated election.

The election committee was formed at the party's National Assembly held at Thaajuddin School on Monday night. President Nasheed's supporters gave no input following heated debates at the meeting. They left the National Assembly when it became evident that their proposals would not move forward to vote at the assembly.

The MDP constitution stipulates that the election committee should have five members. Members supporting President Nasheed proposed that the committee should include two persons to represent the two candidates and another person who can be agreed upon by the two candidates. The pro-Nasheed members also moved to vote separately on the names of the five members to be elected to the committee.

The motion was rejected by the pro-President Solih MPs and MDP's Chairperson, Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail, who was chairing the assembly.

The election committee nominations were moved by Henveiru South MP Hussain Shaheem and supported by Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef.

Members of the Committee:
Anas Abdul Sattar
Ahmed Abdulla Afeef
Akram Kamaluddin
Mohamed Eeman
Ibrahim Waheed

Ali Azim, who is pro-President Nasheed, said the committee should be formed as they proposed if the MDP primary is to be conducted fairly.

"Then we can conduct this with justice and equality. Otherwise, this will not happen," Azim said.

President Nasheed's niece, Galolhu North MP Eva Abdulla, heavily criticized Fayyaz for the way he was conducting the assembly. She alleged that Fayyaz was trying to prevent National Assembly members from expressing their views at the assembly, similar to what he was doing to prevent members from speaking their minds in the National Assembly WhatsApp group.

Responding to the motion by pro-Nasheed members, Fayyaz said although some members said the election committee should include candidates' representatives, the national Elections Commission is not comprised in that manner. Therefore, the supporters of President Nasheed are not making sensible demands, he said.