Extending nomination deadline may hinder election: EC
"If the election day is postponed further, then the entire electoral roll has to be redrawn and the entire election should be reorganized": EC's lawyer Mahfooz.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
The Election Commission (EC) has said at the Supreme Court on Friday that if the court allows time extension for Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to nominate a candidate, it may not be possible to elect a president for the term stipulated in the law.
The Supreme Court heard a petition filed by Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the former president of Maldives, against the EC for rejecting his candidacy for the presidential election on Friday. Yameen's lawyer asked the court:
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To declare the election commission's decision as null and void
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To declare Yameen eligible to contest elections
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If the case against Yameen is settled, the Election Commission should make necessary arrangements for Yameen to contest the elections.
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To allow Yameen to file his candidacy again
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To allow PPM to file someone else's candidacy in case Yameen's candidacy cannot be filed.
Regarding the grant of more time to contest the elections, advocate Mahfooz Saeed, appearing for the Election Commission, said, that since EC had decided not to accept the candidature of Yameen, at present, there is no bar on filing the nomination papers as no other candidate has filed his nomination papers on behalf of the party. Therefore, the candidature will be accepted, Mahfooz said.
He, however, pointed out that there were several reasons why it could not be done on the basis of the dates and requested that EC secretary general Hassan Zakariya be allowed to explain it.
When Chief Justice Ahmed Muhthasim Adnan, chairing the entire seven-judge bench hearing the case, granted the opportunity to Hassan:
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Any further change in the tenure will hamper the rights of the candidates. This is because candidates will not get the 30-day extension required to campaign as mandated by the general law
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The entire voters' list should be redrawn and the dates of the entire election should be redrafted
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It may prevent the election of a president within the period specified in the law.
"If the election day is postponed further, then the entire electoral roll has to be redrawn and the entire election should be reorganized, which will prevent the election of a president for the period specified in the law," Hassan said.
'There is a case of proven debt'
Yameen's candidacy form as the party's presidential candidate was submitted to the EC on Tuesday, but the commission rejected his nomination, citing Article 109(f) of the Constitution. The article says:
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If a person has been convicted of a criminal offence for a period of more than 12 months, he/she must have completed the sentence or three years since the remission of sentence imposed by that judgment.
Calling the EC's decision "anti-constitutional", Yameen has been advocating that the decision be declared null and void.
The EC argued that it had rejected Yameen's candidacy not only because he was serving a sentence but also because he had proven debts. The EC said that it had sent two letters to the PPM, stating the reasons for not accepting Yameen's candidacy. The first letter was sent on August 1, 2023, at 3.20 pm and the second letter was sent at night on the same day, after Yameen’s lawyers' team rushed to file the case in the Supreme Court on the basis of the first letter from EC.
In the first letter, the EC stated that Yameen was ineligible to contest the election because he was serving a sentence and because he had proven debts. The EC said that the proven debts were related to a criminal case in which Yameen had been convicted. The EC said that it did not know whether Yameen had paid the debts.
In the second letter, the EC added that Yameen was also ineligible to contest the election because he was not a registered voter. The EC said that Yameen had not registered to vote in the presidential election.
"... As far as practicality is concerned, we appealed in accordance with the letter that was first sent to us. If the question is open during this trial, the records we have submitted show that there is no record of proven debt," Hamza said.
He pointed out that when the crime and debt records were submitted to the Election Commission, the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) had sent the details as there was a criminal record in the trial court.
The judges went on break after, adjourning the trial for discussion among the judges.
'No proven debt'
Once the trial resumed, Justice Suood again sought an explanation from Yameen's lawyers as to why the debt issue had not been brought to the court's notice, and to state whether there is a proven debt or not.
"I don't think there is a [proven debt]," Hamza said.
When Yameen offered to answer the question, the bench allowed him to do so. According to Yameen:
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The case of proven debt is part of the present appeal in the High Court
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Lawyers are yet to be informed that the payment period had expired in the lower court's debt case
After the next opportunity to speak was given to the EC counsel, Mahfooz said the commission responded quickly because the PPM had requested for a reply as soon as possible. However, as the first reply needed to be amended, a second reply was sent, Mahfooz said the EC believes that the second reply has been taken into consideration when filing the case.
Mahfooz then spoke about the interpretation of Article 109(f) of the Constitution. According to him:
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When interpreting an article of the Constitution, the first thing to look at is the wording
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Any further interpretation shall be considered if it is not clear from the wording of the article
Responding to Yameen's lawyer Hamza's claim that Article 109(f) of the Constitution literally means that he cannot contest the election even if his sentence is quashed, Mahfooz said the article does not prevent him from contesting the election.
