Ali Amjad was expelled from the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after he filed a petition in the Civil Court seeking an order to hold the MDP presidential primary again, his lawyer has said.
MDP held its presidential primary in February this year to determine its candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Contesting against Parliament Speaker and MDP President Mohamed Nasheed, MDP Leader and President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, won the election by a large margin.
Following the election, a case was filed at the Civil Court by party member Ali Amjad, seeking to nullify the primary and hold it again. The case filed by Amjad alleged that the MDP expelled 39,000 of its members ahead of the primary in violation of the relevant procedures. He noted that a primary that was held in a manner that infringed on the party members' right to vote would not be valid and sought an order to hold the primary again.
In hearings held at the Civil Court, MDP had said Ali Amjad was not a member of the party and, therefore, the case could not be investigated.
However, in a hearing held Thursday, Amjad's lawyer, Dhiyana Saeed, said Amjad was expelled from MDP seven days after he filed the petition at the Civil Court. Amjad was removed from the party register on February 22. Therefore, the case can be continued, Dhiyana said.
The presiding judge, Aishath Azfa Abdul Ghafoor, said she would consider the points and decide on the case.
