Indo-Maldives relations have not affected relations between poll bodies: Maldives EC

The fraught bilateral relations between Indian and Maldives have not affected the knowledge sharing that happens between the poll bodies of the two Asian countries, Fuwad Thowfeek, the chairperson of Maldvies’ election commission, said.

“Election Commission is an independent institution in Maldives. Indian Election Commission is also an independent institution. We are not into politics. We don’t talk about politics in our meetings. It is not a topic that comes to us. Therefore, so far, I don’t find any problem between any of the election commissions. ... Our election commissions are very close to each other. We never talk about politics between any two countries,” Thowfeek told HT on the sidelines of the Election Commission of India’s commemoration of its 75th anniversary on Thursday.

Thowfeek and other representatives from Maldives Election Commission are in Delhi for three reasons --- to attend the meeting of the executive board of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) that the ECI hosted on January 25; to attend India’s 14th National Voters’ Day; and to attend the Republic Day celebrations on Friday.

During the AAEA meeting, the issue of simultaneous polls in India was not on the agenda but was discussed on the sidelines, Thowfeek said.

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"I think it will be a very huge task to have simultaneous polls [in India] because it is a huge country. Some states are bigger than many countries. It will be a challenge but I know that Indian Election Commission has a lot of expertise and a lot of experience. If the Election Commission of India wants to go for it, I am sure they will do enough studies and they will make sure that it [the study] goes well before they attempt to do it. But it is going to be a really big challenge for the Indian Election Commission,” Thowfeek said.

HT has reached out to ECI for comment.

India took over the chairpersonship of the AAEA on May 7, 2022 from Philippines for two years. The seven executive members --- India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Taiwan and Philippines --- met in Delhi this week. The executive board discussed if there should be a permanent secretariat for the AAEA in one of the member nations.

AAEA was established in 1998 and has twenty members including Pakistan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Kazakhastan.

The AAEA was set up “to promote and institutionalise open and transparent elections, independent and impartial election authorities, professionalization of Asian election authorities, citizen participation in the electoral and civic process, information sharing, and the development of resources for election-related information and research”, as per the ECI’s description.

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Thowfeek said that AAEA allows for knowledge sharing as different members have “different experiences, knowledge and capacities”. He pointed out how Maldives is an island nation spread composed of 1,190 islands spread across 90,000 square kilometres of sea. “So we have different problems. Other countries have different problems. We share our experiences so we can help each other with solutions,” he said.

Thowfeek mentioned programmes run by the Indian International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in collaboration with International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFIS) that allow election officials from Maldives to get trainings in India through workshops, long-term and short-term courses. “[We get] good opportunities that we won’t get in our own country but with India being a huge country with so much resources, we get these type of trainings through India,” he said.

Last year, in September Indian election Commissioner Arun Goel led a three-member delegation to observe Maldivian presidential elections. Thowfeek observed elections in Bengaluru and Mysuru.

Representatives from election commissions of Russia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Taiwan also attended the National Voters’ Day celebrations.

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