Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof, who is on leave pending a decision by the Prosecutor General on corruption charges, has been allowed to contest in the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) upcoming internal elections.
Mahloof was previously forbidden by the MDP from running for the Presidency of North Province (Kaafu, Alifu Alifu, Alifu Dhaalu, and Vaavu) as a cabinet member in the elections.
The party then stated that a case had been filed against Mahloof with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), emphasizing that the MDP’s National Executive Committee had previously agreed that if an individual is involved in a corruption case by any authority, they will be ineligible to run in the elections.
Mahloof appealed the decision and filed a complaint with the MDP’s Council of Appellate Judges, stating that he should be able to run in any election because no criminal allegations against him were established in court.
Following a review by the Council, Mahloof was granted permission to compete in the upcoming internal elections of the country’s largest political party.
The MDP, the country’s primary ruling party, has schedules internal elections for September 25, which will be the party’s largest internal elections yet, with more than 300 polling stations set up around the country.
