Umar files court case asking to invalidate PPM primary

Former deputy leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer, who recently lost the PPM presidential primary, has filed a case in Civil Court asking to invalidate the primary elections.

Umar filed his case yesterday, a senior official from the Civil Court told Sun today.The Court has not yet decided whether they will accept the case, said the official

Umar's move to invalidate the election follows the recent rejection of a case filed by the PPM’s Henveyru-central division President Rahma Moosa, who also requested the Court to invalidate the PPM primary.

The case by Umar argues that the PPM primary voters registry was put together in contradiction to the law on political parties and requests the court to declare the primary election as void.

The case claims that by 10th March 2013, a total of 22,383 members existed in the PPM primary maintained by the Elections Commission, but the voter’s list published by the party consisted of a total 31,298 people, an excess of 8,915 who were subsequently allowed to illegally vote in the PPM primary.

The case states that members of other political parties were allowed to vote in the primary, and that it was a clear infringement of the rights of the members of the party.

Umar has also filed a case in Civil Court late last month contesting his recent dismissal from PPM. The Court has not yet decided on accepting the case.