The Elections Commission (EC) is threatening the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for its nightly protests in Malé. In a letter to MDP boss Fayyaz Ismail, the EC said it’ll take action if the party keeps breaking the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Act. But this sounds unfair and steps on a big right everyone has.
The EC claims the police told them the MDP’s protests are blocking roads, annoying people, and making police work harder. It saw on TV that the party was shouting rude things too. Still, the Maldives Constitution says people can gather peacefully—it’s a right, not something the EC can scare away. Why doesn’t the EC say anything when government fans rally or when people protest bad things the state does? It’s picking on the MDP alone.
The letter warned the MDP that if it doesn’t stop, the EC will use the Political Parties Act against them. It also said the party can’t hold meetings on streets and must tell the EC a day before any gathering. But this feels like a trick to shut them up. The Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Act, messed up years ago by ex-President Abdulla Yameen, shouldn’t beat a real right. The EC’s job is elections, not bossing parties around.
President Muizzu said he’d fix this law and give people more freedom to gather. So why is the EC still threatening the MDP ?The EC’s threats look like a way to quiet the MDP, not keep things fair.
