News Desk
MALE’ — When the Elections Commission dissolved The Democrats party on 4 June for falling short of the legally required 3,000 members, finishing with 2,952, Shujau Ali did what many in his position would do. He joined another party. The party he chose was the MDP, the parent organisation from which The Democrats had split.
What he did not expect was to lose his seat over it.
The Local Government Authority ruled on Tuesday that Shujau’s position as President of Vaavu Thinadhoo Island Council had become vacant because he was now registered with a party other than the one under whose ticket he was elected. The LGA has since notified the Elections Commission formally that the seat is empty.
Shujau is pushing back. Speaking to Sangu TV, he said the LGA’s decision goes beyond what the law actually requires. His argument is specific: the legislation governing anti-defection does not clearly address what happens when a party is dissolved administratively rather than when a member voluntarily switches allegiance. Those are, he argues, two different things, and the law has not treated them as one.
“When the law does not clearly address this specific situation, institutions cannot simply interpret it to their own conclusions and take action. This decision was made without properly examining the matter,” he said.
He also questioned what harm was actually caused by his move. In his view, no significant political damage resulted from his change of party registration, particularly given that the MDP is the party from which The Democrats originally emerged.
Shujau won the Thinadhoo council presidency on a Democrats ticket. The Democrats itself was a splinter of the MDP, formed ahead of the 2023 presidential election when former President Mohamed Nasheed broke from the party. Nasheed subsequently rejoined the MDP, and The Democrats eventually failed to maintain its membership threshold, leading to its dissolution.
Despite losing his position, Shujau is not retreating. He said Thinadhoo’s residents have strong support for the MDP and that he is confident the party would win the seat again in any by-election. He said that even without a formal title, there are ways to serve the community.
The case has exposed a gap in the Maldives’ political and legal framework. What happens to an elected official when the party they represent ceases to exist is a question that neither the courts nor parliament has clearly answered. Shujau’s removal may or may not survive legal challenge, but the question it raises will not go away with the verdict. It will return the next time a party dissolves, or comes close to it.
