EC requests information on

The Elections Commission (EC) has requested Jamiyya Salaf to provide information on a lecture, ‘Andalus’, recently organised by Salaf.

In a letter, Member of Complaints Bureau of the EC, Sulaiman Mohamed, requested President of Jamiyya Salaf, Abdulla bin Mohamed Ibrahim, to provide information on five issues related to the lecture.

The letter states that this matter is presently under investigation by the commission, following a complaint filed by a political party.

The commission asked in the letter if Salaf held a gathering in Dharubaaruge on 17 September; if it was implied in the lecture given during this gathering that presidential candidate of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mohamed Nasheed, is a secularist; if religion was used to achieve political a motive and to talk about issues included in MDP’s manifesto; if it was implied in the lecture that a group of MDP supporters are responsible for Dr Afrasheem’s murder; and if it was mentioned in the lecture that one of the presidential election candidates supports ‘secular democracy’.

The EC also requested Jamiyya Salaf to respond to the questions stated in the letter, in writing.

The lecture, given by Sheikh Adam Shameem, was focused on the lessons to be learned from the fall of the 800-year-old Islamic empire, Al-Andalus. Sheikh Shameem also talked about the political situation in the Maldives, and the challenges faced by religious scholars in carrying out their duties.