Ahmed Abdulla Afeef, the President of the Maldivian Democratic Party's Appeals Committee, indicated that Interim Chairperson Abdul Ghafoor Moosa (Gapo) replied to the Committee’s order to revoke the election announcement by claiming that “everything was handled appropriately.”

On April 23rd, the Appeals Committee directed Abdul Ghafoor to annul the announcement of the chairperson election due to non-compliance with the party’s regulations. A week and a half has passed since the letter, signed by Afeef, was sent.

In a conversation with Sun on Saturday, Afeef remarked that Abdul Ghafoor, in his official reply, asserted that the election process was carried out in complete compliance with the proper procedure.

“Subsequently, the Appeals Committee gathered and established a new schedule [for the election], stating that the voter list ought to be released by tomorrow [today], which has still not been made public,” Afeef stated.

He went on to clarify that, although the updated timeline was officially provided to the MDP Secretariat, it has not been disclosed to the public yet. Afeef stated that the Secretariat mentioned Abdul Ghafoor is currently holding back the updated timeline created by the Appeals Committee.

Afeef warned that if the chairperson election takes place as planned, there is a significant chance that the process could be deemed invalid.

According to the party's rules, the President of the Appeals Committee has the power to oversee issues related to the chairperson election.

In his letter to Abdul Ghafoor, Afeef mentioned that the timeline released with the announcement setting June 12th as the election date had been established against his directives. He also argued that any decisions made about the chairperson election without his awareness or participation are a clear violation of the party's charter.

The letter also mentioned that, while he had taken part in a meeting of the election’s organising committee, he aimed to complete the timeline only after discussions with the committee that includes the party’s leadership and its chairperson.

“The letter emphasized that during a period of tension between party leaders, making decisions that could threaten the party's internal unity is unwise.”

Afeef also expressed worries that many MDP members were registered with the ruling People's National Congress without their consent. He contended that since members typically realize these changes only when trying to vote in internal elections, moving forward without permitting them to rejoin the party would jeopardize the electoral rights of both the candidates and the larger membership.

Afeef asked for the present election announcement and its associated timeline to be rendered null and void, and for this decision to be officially conveyed to party members.

The Chairperson role is presently being challenged by Meekail Ahmed Naseem, the South Galolhu Member of Parliament, and former MDP President Mohamed Nasheed.