Elections Commission members deny Supreme Court

Members of Elections Commission have denied Supreme Court’s accusations against them of contempt.

In court today, President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeg referred to the court’s accusations and said that he had not spoken disrespectfully of Supreme Court at any press conference.

Vice President of Elections Commission Ahmed Fayaz also firmly denied the claims and said that he had not committed contempt of court.

Numerous questions were posed to Elections Commission members by the presiding judges.

Judge Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi asked why Elections Commission members said at a press conference that it would not be possible to follow the guideline issued by the Supreme Court in relation to the Presidential Election.

In response, Fuad Thaufeeg said that having the voters’ lists signed by all candidates is a difficult task, and one that is not attempted by any country.

When asked if the commission sought advice from the Attorney General in relation to the guideline, Fuad Thaufeeg said that the commission did request the Attorney General’s advice on this matter.

Judge Abdulla Saeed addressed Fuad Thaufeeg and said that when an order is issued by the Supreme Court, Elections Commission does not have the right to give excuses or refuse the implement those orders.

Judge Ali Hameed said that Elections Commission’s decision to dissolve political parties with less than 3,000 members was a violation of a Supreme Court order issued in relation to this matter.

In response to a question by Judge Ali Hameed, Fuad Thaufeeg said that the Supreme Court order did not explicitly state that political parties with less than 3,000 members cannot be dissolved.

Fuad Thaufeeg said that following a case filed by the State, Supreme Court annulled the article in the Political Parties Act which stated that a political party must have 10,000 members before it can be registered.

Fuad Thaufeeg said that the court, in the order wherein it annulled the article, said that the minimum membership requirement for registration of political parties stated in the Political Parties Act was too high, and until this could be amended by the parliament, advised to continue to follow the Political Parties Regulation which stated that the minimum membership requirement for registration of political parties was 3,000.

No announcement was made regarding a date for the next session on this case, before today’s session was concluded by the Chief Justice.