The main ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said it would ensure any attempt made on disrupting the efforts of former President Mohamed Nasheed from competing in the upcoming parliamentary elections would fail. MDP made the remark in the wake of a bill submitted to the Parliament to ban former presidents from competing for a parliament seat.
The bill was proposed by Abdul Latheef Mohamed, a parliamentarian representing Jumhooree Party, another coalition partner. The bill was formulated to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act in a way former presidents would not be able to compete for a seat in Parliament.
Speaking at a press conference, Chairperson of MDP Hassan Latheef noted the bill was targeted at Nasheed, who has announced his candidature for the parliamentary elections. The chairperson of the main ruling party said the bill was unconstitutional and should not be accepted by the Parliament. Latheef noted the criteria to compete for a parliament seat is mentioned in Article 73 of the constitution and the Parliamentary Election Act. He said MDP would rebuff any attempt to specifically target an individual from barring to compete in an election.
Jumhooree Party has since asked Abdul Latheef Mohamed to withdraw the bill.