Supreme Court of Maldives has reinstated parliament members Mohamed Waheed, Saud Hussain, Abdul Latheef Mohamed and Mohamed Ameeth after nullifying the July 18, 2018 decision by the Elections Commission of Maldives that they had lost their seats due to floor-crossing.
At separate hearings held today, the Supreme Court said the parliamentarians harboured the right to appeal the decision after they were expelled from Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the party did not have the right to appeal and reinstate them, suo motu.
Thus, Elections Commission could not declare the parliamentarians had lost the seats in reference to the Anti-Defection Act, which applies only to parliamentarians that crossed the floor after July 13, as at the time, they were no longer members of PPM.