Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Thursday accused the country's electoral watchdog of undermining the transparency of the delayed local council after the elections commission rejected several observers and monitors of the main opposition party.
The deadline for parties to nominate observers and monitors of the elections ended on Wednesday and the commission had refused to extend the deadline despite complaints of lack of time.
MDP in a statement said the party had been unable to submit several forms online due to the elections commission's server issues.
"The elections commission had used various excuses to deny a free and fair elections," the statement alleged.
The elections commission had also come under heavy criticism from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) over the decision not to re-extend the deadline for candidatures for the local council elections.
Elections Commission had originally set the deadline until October 27 but had extended it until December 1 due to requests by several political parties.
Secretary General Ahmed Ali had said the commission was presently reviewing the 937 candidatures.
Despite the civil court ruling delaying the polls by two months, Ali said no decision to re-extend the candidature deadline has been made.
The civil court had postponed the council polls originally slated for January 14 by two months.
PPM filed the case seeking to delay the upcoming council polls by two months citing that the ongoing rift within the party had impeded its preparations for the elections slated for January 14.
