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Ibrahim Waheed (Iburey) speaks at a press conference held by MDP. Dhauru Photo/Abdulla Yashau

MDP allows members to return to fold ahead of primary

He said the 24,033 members in the party registry were not registered with any party as per the Election Commission's purview.

21 December 2022

By Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim

The party has decided to allow those who have been dropped from the party's list due to the presence of their names in the list of other parties to rejoin the party.

After the party's president Mohamed Nasheed questioned the party's registry, the party on Wednesday asked members who had been duped into other parties to submit membership forms again to rejoin MDP.

In a tweet on Monday, MDP requested that if any of its members have been inducted into another party without their knowledge, they will be allowed to become a member of the party again after completing the membership form of the MDP. 

"Once the form is completed and submitted to the Election Commission, the member will be approved by the MDP," the tweet read.

Nasheed, who is contesting the presidential primary, said last Wednesday that 40,000 members had been removed from the party's membership. He alleged that the primaries would not be democratic under such circumstances.

In a statement on Wednesday, MDP said that the party's registry is now valid and it regrets Nasheed's statement.

Fayyaz campaigned for the post of chairperson and cleaning up the party's registry was his promise. After Fayyaz took over, the party's previous registry was abolished and the election commission's registry was synced with. The decision was taken after it was tabled at the party's national council meeting in May and approved by the parliament. Members of the Nasheed faction had raised concerns at the time.

'17,000 in other parties per old registry'

The party's current deputy chairperson Ibrahim Waheed (Iburey) posted on social media on Wednesday, a letter he had shared with the party before the decision was taken by the party's national assembly in May.

Voting in the party's chairperson's elections held in May this year and the local elections held in April last year was conducted on the basis of the party's existing registry. There were over 93,000 members in the party's register.

Ibrahim Waheed's letter looked at the issues in the party's list in April last year and compared it to the election commission's registry.  

Ibrahim Waheed said that out of the 93,000 people, about 17,000 are members of other parties according to the Election Commission list:

  • PPM: 6,357

  • JP: 3,788

  • MDA: 1,762

  • Adhaalath Party: 1,211

  • MTD: 1,048

  • MRM: 1,029

  • PNC: 698

  • Labour Party: 875

  • DRP: 389

He said the 24,033 members in the party registry were not registered with any party as per the Election Commission's purview.

"One of the most amazing discoveries made was that the names of 46 people who were not on the party's website were included in the election commission's list as party members," he said in the letter.

'Councillors from other parties also in MDP'

Ibrahim Waheed's letter also released a list of members of the WDC, the Women's Development Committee, and councilors who were elected as independent candidates, or from other parties. 

He said 403 councilmen were elected on MDP tickets. He, however, added that the 124 members elected to the councils as independent members or from other parties were in MDP’s fold at the time. They are:

  • Independent: 62

  • PPM: 54

  • JP: 6

  • Adhaalath Party: 1

  • Labour Party: 1

He said MDP had contested and elected 306 members to the WDC. However, 101 members from other parties and independents won the elections, he said. 

  • Independent: 55

  • PPM: 41

  • Jumhooree Party: 4

  • MRM: 1

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