The Elections Commission (EC) has denied any connection to the alleged leaking of The Democrats membership forms submitted to the commission.
The Democrats submitted 3564 forms to the EC on June 1. The law requires the signatures of 3000 people to register a political party.
In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the commission said the alleged leaks did not happen through the commission.
“We inform the Maldivian people that such an act was not carried out by a commission member or staff,” the statement read.
The Democrats founder and Henveiru Hulhangu MP Hassan Latheef submitted a petition to the parliament earlier on Tuesday, alleging that the membership forms were leaked and the government was using them to threaten party supporters.
Senior government officials were checking the list and contacting people who had applied for loans or housing with the assurance that they would get it if they withdrew their signatures.
The Democrats is a new party formed under the instruction of parliament speaker and former president Mohamed Nasheed who remains the president of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
