Will advise president not to ratify Bill on Political Parties: Dr Hassan Saeed

Special Advisor to the President Dr Hassan Saeed has said that the Bill on Political Parties passed by the parliament contradicts the constitution, and that he will advise the president against ratifying it.

Dr Hassan Saeed, who is also the President of Qaumee Party, said that regardless of his advice, the president will make a decision on the matter after considering the advice of the attorney general.

“I will advise the president that the bill should not be ratified. That would be my advice. It’s the attorney general who normally advises on whether bills passed by the government should be ratified. The president will consider the advice of the attorney general and other groups before making his decision,” said Dr Hassan Saeed, who previously served as attorney general.

Dr Hassan Saeed criticised the bill researched by the Independent Institutions Committee and passed by the parliament, and said that the purpose of the bill is unclear, and that it is not a problem that the bill states that small, inactive political parties are not provided funds by the government.

However, as the constitution states that it is a basic right of the people to form political parties, the policies in effect in democratic societies should be considered if a basic right is being compromised.

“Making it compulsory to have 10,000 people before a party can be registered, is a way to restrict a basic right, isn’t it? How is this handled in democratic societies? It’s not even compulsory in such societies to register political parties. There are countries in the world, where not even the ruling party is registered. And even if registration is required, such a large number is not necessary, 600, 500 or 300 should be enough to register a party. That’s how simple it is,” he said.

Implying that the parties that voted in favour of restricting the formation of political parties stand to gain from doing so, he said that people would be deprived of a basic right guaranteed in the constitution due to this bill that ‘favours certain groups’.

He also criticised the clause in the bill that states that 1000 sq ft land plots should be given to parties that have 20,000 members, and said that he does not ‘understand’ how providing land to political parties in Male’, which is heavily overcrowded, can be justified.

“We should consider organisations that serve the society. Whether they are organisations about drugs or tourism, they also have to be given opportunities. The law cannot give all privileges to one group and ignore all others, especially in relation to issues in which the parliament has interest.”

Article 11 (a) of the political parties bill states that names, signatures and fingerprints of a minimum of 10,000 members must be presented to Elections Commission in order to register a political party. The parties that presently have 10,000 members are MDP, PPM, DRP and JP.