Police say will support EC for council election

Maldives Police Service has said that they will provide every support requested by the Elections Commission (EC) to ensure the smooth conduct of the 18 January Local Council Election.

Police Media Official told Sun last night that Police are preparing for the Saturday election and that they will provide all necessary support within the Supreme Court guidelines, issued during last year’s presidential election.

“As you must already know, there were issues during the last presidential election. Supreme Court issued a guideline. We are ready to provide whatever support that the commission [EC] requests. But as a Supreme Court guideline exists, we are seeking legal advice in order to comply [with the guideline],” the official said.

In September 2013, the Maldives Supreme Court annulled the first round of the presidential election and ordered fresh elections along with a 16-point guideline, setting heavy boundaries to protect the rights of candidates. The elections was then restaged after several postponements over candidates refusing to endorse the voters’ lists, a requirement in the guideline.

Candidates of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and some independent candidates have refused to endorse some of the voters' lists for the Saturday election claiming they were not allowed enough time to verify them. EC said yesterday that PPM has refused to sign 16 lists in total.

Police have launched a special operation to ensure that a conducive environment for elections exists in the lead-up and during election day.