Have not decided to expel Umar from PPM: Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has said that it had not yet decided to expel Umar Naseer from the party.

The committee has accused Umar, who lost the party’s recent Primary Election, of violating the party’s Basic Regulation.

Speaking at a press conference today, Chairman of PPM Ethics Committee Abdul Azeez Jamal Abu-Bakr said that no decision had been made regarding which action to take against Umar. He said that Umar had been given seven days to ‘make amends’ and start acting according to the Basic Regulation.

Jamal said that it had been decided to take strict action if Umar fails to act accordingly, but no decision had been made regarding which action would be taken against him.

“There are many ways in which we can take strict action. It could be a fine – a heavy fine could be a strict action. This will be decided by the Ethics Committee. It could be a strict action to suspend him for a long period, and disallow him from participating in party events. This will be decided by the Ethics Committee,” Abdul Azeez Jamal said.

He said that the seven-day deadline given to Umar will be up on Wednesday, and that the committee will decide on which action to take against him on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Umar Naseer has said that the Ethics Committee had decided to expel him. In response, Abdul Azeez Jamal said that that is Umar’s interpretation.

Umar was asked to make amends after he held a PPM rally for his supporters after the Primary, and made several allegations against PPM Presidential Candidate Abdullah Yameen.

Umar said that votes were rigged at the Primary, and accused Yameen of working with gangs in Male’. Umar said that he also witnessed Yameen meeting in his office, with a suspect involved in the murder of Ungoofaaru MP Dr Afrasheem Ali.