PNC disqualifies many from parliamentary primary over 'sedition'
The letter did not say exactly what was done to create sedition.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Ruling PPM-PNC coalition has decided not to accept the candidacies of some candidates who have submitted forms for the parliamentary primary for trying to create divisions within the party.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for March 17. The date of the primary has been changed several times and now the PPM-PNC primary will be held on coming Saturday.
The candidacies of some of the candidates who applied for the primary have been rejected and they have been notified by letter on Sunday.
PNC Chairman and Special Advisor to President Mohammed Muizzu, also Senior Minister of the President's Office Abdul Raheem Abdullah signed the letters to them saying:
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When the proposal to contest the election was examined, the MP had been caught in opposition to the party's policies that emerged within the party after winning the presidential election
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They have participated in the efforts of a group of people in such a way as to create confusion among the general members of the party and tried to promote these policies
"In view of the fact that you have acted in a manner that creates divisions within the party, I declare that your candidature is not acceptable on the ground that the conditions mentioned in Section 4 of the Rules for selection of candidates by the Progressive Congress Alliance for the Parliamentary Elections 2024 are not met," the letter read.
The letter did not say exactly what was done to create sedition.
The PNC on Sunday also sent letters to some members rejecting their candidacies for not doing enough service to the party. Some of them have worked in the PPM-PNC for a long time but have recently joined the PNC.
Some people who spoke to Atoll Times about the rejection of the candidacy said that they were not given the opportunity to contest the election unfairly. They also alleged that the party leadership had treated different members differently and given opportunities to certain people.
Some members said they would submit the matter to the party for review. If justice is not done within the party, they will exercise their right to take legal action.
The PNC rejected the candidacies of some people accused of creating tensions within the party during the change of government. After winning the election, the coalition's then leader and former President Abdullah Yameen left the party saying he had been caste aside in the party.
Yameen is now working to form a new party as he is working against the government.
