The Supreme Court has finished hearing arguments in the candidacy rejection case of opposition leader former President Abdulla Yameen.
The hearing was scheduled for 2:30 pm but was postponed to 4 pm due to a power outage in the Supreme Court area.
The session continued for over seven hours with the court hearing arguments from Yameen, the Elections Commission (EC), the Attorney General (AG) office and the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Yameen is currently in jail after he was found guilty of accepting a USD 1.1 million bribe to lease Vaavu Aarah in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
According to the constitution, if a presidential candidate has been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a term of more than 12 months, three years must have elapsed since his release or pardon.
Some lawyers believe that a constitutional case could be filed at the Supreme Court to interpret the sentence referred to in the provision as the final judgment after the appeal process is completed.
Yameen's lawyers argue that he is eligible to contest as the appeal process has not been completed in the Aarah bribery conviction. They also claimed that it is his right, under the constitution, to be able to contest elections.
During Friday's hearing, judges raised crucial points and questions amidst the heated debate opened due to the constitutional provision on the eligibility of presidential candidates.
“In this case, there is the right of appeal. The three stages of the judiciary is a right guaranteed to every individual by the Constitution,” lawyer Hamza Latheef said.
EC lawyer Mahfooz Saeed responded that hardened convicts can hold public office if the court decides to allow the right to contest elections while awaiting the final verdict.
“Even though they were convicted and imprisoned, they were elected because they had appealed the case. My question is whether the parliament that finalized the constitution would have allowed this,” he said.
Under the current circumstances, if Yameen is allowed to contest and his sentence becomes final after he is elected and takes office, he will lose his eligibility to remain as president from that point on and his deputy would take over.
The full bench of seven judges of the Supreme Court heard the case. Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan, who presided over the hearing, announced the conclusion of the arguments.
