The Elections Commission (EC) has authorized the formation of The Democrats and informed the party of the decision.
EC member Ismail Habeeb said in a tweet today that the EC has permitted the inaugural congress for the formation of The Democrats to take place next Sunday, which is the first official working day after the Eid holidays.
The commission has informed the party's founder Hassan Latheef of the authorization, Habeeb said.
The decision comes after EC president Fuwad Thowfeek urged commission members Saturday night to allow a meeting to be held for making a decision on the registration of The Democrats.
Four out of the five EC members are presently in the country. A decision could not be made at a meeting held on June 18 for registering The Democrats as votes were tied. A meeting called on June 21 was cancelled due to a lack of quorum.
"I am very saddened that some members are trying to prevent a meeting. And I want to call on them as well to come to the table and hold a meeting," Fuwad said in a video interview with CNM.
At the June 18 meeting, commission members Ali Nashaath and Mohamed Asif proposed rechecking The Democrats' forms. Fuwad said the meeting on June 21 was called after checking the forms again.
"We had finished all the checking we needed to do by Sunday. But the others wanted to check further. We have finished that check as well now. But a meeting could not be held last Wednesday because some people did not attend," Fuwad said.
The inability of the EC to make a decision on registering The Democrats was a failure of the commission and its members, he said.
"In my view, it's a very big failure on our part. We have been negligent in fulfilling the duties of the Elections Commission. It's a stain on myself as well as on every member of the commission," Fuwad said.
Fuwad said the two members refused to attend the meeting because they were unhappy with him, which was because he was not allowing delays and speaking the truth.
"[Members are not attending meetings] because they're unhappy with me. They're unhappy with me because I don't agree to this delay process. And because I explained the truth of this to the officials who came to the Elections Commission [on June 18] on behalf of the party [The Democrats]," he said.
Fuwad said he was seeking advice on the delay in registering The Democrats and hoped to find a solution.
"I have informed those who I need to inform about this and have been seeking advice. I hope that this will be settled very soon," he said.
The creation of The Democrats was proposed by a group of MPs who support Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed and left the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The 3000 signatures needed to form the party were gathered and submitted to the commission on June 1. Since then, Nasheed also resigned from the MDP last week.
