Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday claimed their aim for inviting all registered and active political parties for discussion did not carry ulterior motives and promised confidentiality of information shared in individual party meetings.
The Maldives electoral watchdog claimed they had wished to discuss the commission's preparatory work and progress for the upcoming presidential election with the parties in order to assist and assess their contribution.
EC made the comment following the coincided refusal from all opposing political parties to sit down with the commission for discussion as the Maldives United Opposition suspected foul play on EC's end.
In a press conference held by the joint-party coalition, opposition had claimed election commission aims to extract information from opposing political parties regarding their work and progress over the election and pass it along to ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and government.
When questioned regarding opposition's comments on Monday, EC's member Ahmed Akram assured the commission simply aims to share the developments they have made related to the presidential election as well as provide information about regulation and monitoring of political parties during campaign and election.
Furthermore Akram noted that no political party had officially declined the invitation at the independent entity's office, adding the members of EC wished for the full support and cooperation of all registered political parties in their work of preparing for the much coveted presidential election.
Opposition had lambasted the current leadership of the Election Commission stating the integrity of its members have been compromised and were 'in cahoots' with the government.
