Elections Commission calls for “changes” to party registration after “dead” members row
21 Dec 2010, 7:21 PM
Neil Merrett
The president of the Elections Commission (EC) has hit back at criticism from the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) that suggested the independent body had failed to carry out its duty after it removed deceased members from the party’s registry, by claiming the entire political membership system requires legislative “changes”.
EC President Fuad Thaufeeq told Minivan News today that it had acted on “information supplied by Island Officers” on December 2 this year, which found that six people on the DQP’s membership registry had died during 2010, requiring their removal under the commission’s regulations. He claimed that new regulations currently awaiting approval in the Majlis are expected to remove similar confusion and “concerns” in the future over remaining a member of a political party after death.
Thaufeeq was responding in particular to criticism of the EC made this week by the DQP, with the party alleging in a statement that 32 of its members had been removed from registration within the party after they were found to be deceased.
The DQP is now reportedly set to file charges against the EC, which the party claimed needed to be “stronger and more careful in order to achieve democracy” or risk losing the public trust.
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