President of Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef has stated there will be no legal restrictions for People's National Congress (PNC) to compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He made the remarks following comments made by former President Mohamed Nasheed stating PNC cannot contest in the parliamentary elections while Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has granted tickets for candidates.
Speaking to PSM News, president of the electoral body stated PNC is not a registered political party, adding the necessary documents and the membership forms of 3-thousand signatories have not been submitted to the Elections Commission. Shareef said it will take time to process and check the validity of the forms, adding it is too soon to decide whether PNC can contest in the upcoming elections. Moreover, he said if the party gets registered before the elections, there would be no legal obstructions for PNC to field candidates for the elections.
Efforts to form PNC is conducted under the direction of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who leads PPM. The former president has handed over party tickets without a primary for several PPM members to compete in the elections. However, Yameen had intensified efforts to form a new party ahead of the elections scheduled to be held on April 6.