Leader of the Jumhooree Party (JP) and Speaker of Parliament, Qasim Ibrahim, has said that he will keep Parliament in session for 24 hours if that is what it takes to assess PNC’s possible case against Elections Commission. The political party People's National Congress (PNC) is being formed under the leadership of former President Abdulla Yameen.

Qasim said this while speaking at an event held at Kunooz campaign hall, signing new members into JP. He said that an institution cannot let personal feelings interfere with the dealings with any person or group.

He said that if a case is submitted by PNC against the Elections Commission claiming that the Commission was restricting the formation of PNC, he will see the case through. The Speaker of Parliament said that it does not matter even if the Parliament has to be in session for 24 hours.

Qasim said that while this is not a warning, no institution should let personal feelings dictate how it reacts towards a group or person.

Qasim spoke regarding a meeting held with members of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) as well as the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA). He said that members of PPM have expressed concern over the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the Parliamentary elections.  

Qasim said that he attended the meeting with both parties quite willingly. He said that PPM members are concerned that Supreme Court ruling may cancel out their candidacy or party tickets after they have already begun their campaign for specific constituencies for the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

He also said that PNC members claim that the forms submitted by the party are valid and that EC has restricted PNC from being formed. He said that PNC members had said that they are willing to contest a case against EC to the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions if EC does not cease restrictions.

The JP Leader said that PNC reported that approximately 4000 to 5000 forms have already been submitted. He reported that PNC has claimed that the Elections Commission telephoned all members that submitted forms and inquires if they had in fact signed any party forms. PNC had then said however that the party has still not gotten approval for the next step from EC and that they are willing to submit a case to the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions to reach a resolution. Qasim said that he agreed with PNC’s grievances and that the party can count on his support.

Qasim reported that he had personally contacted the Chairperson of Elections Commission, Ahmed Shareef, as well as members of the Commission regarding PPM and MDA’s concerns. Qasim said that the Commission reported that the current proceedings are as such due to the Commission having being accused of stealing.

Qasim said that he had asked the Commission if they had proceeded by contacting all members for approving every party registration membership form. He reported that the Elections Commission had refuted that they proceeded similarly with registration forms of other political parties. Qasim also said that the Elections Commission had said that the reason behind these extra precautions are due to having been accused of stealing. Qasim said that he had advised against such behavior and said that he had told the Commission that submissions for registering members to a party are a separate issue from being accused of stealing.

Qssin reiterated that he had advised the Commission that they should treat PNC similar to how they would treat any political party. He said that he had also advised the Commission to not further bring in other regulations into party registration procedures.