Supreme Court hears appeals from disqualified lawmakers

The Supreme Court began hearing appeals Tuesday from four former ruling party lawmakers who were contentiously stripped of their seats.

Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim, Saud Hussain, Mohamed Ameeth and Abdul Latheef Mohamed were deemed to have lost their seats after the Supreme Court ruled that MPs who were elected on political party tickets will be disqualified once the Elections Commission notifies parliament that they have either left their party, been expelled, or switched parties.

The MPs insisted that they were expelled from the Progressive Party of Maldives before the July 13 anti-defection ruling, which the apex court later clarified would not apply retroactively.

But the state attorney maintained that the MPs remained on the PPM’s registry at the Elections Commission until the party formally requested their removal on July 18.