Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has filed case in Labor Relations Authority and Elections Commission over reports of forced membership of employees of State-owned Corporations to ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

Speaking to Raajje.mv MDP Secretary General Anas Abdul Sattar says the Party had been inundated with reports of this nature and therefore had passed to file this case for further investigation in Labor Relations Authority and Elections Commission.

The case was filed on Tuesday.

A statement released by MDP on Monday, noted that the Party had received complaints of forced membership of employees of State-owned Corporations to PPM. The statement noted that PPM’s President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had also expressed similar concerns. The former President had issued a statement to this effect.

MDP's statement added that senior staff of those Corporations have been actively involved in the recruitment process, noting that photos of those instances have been tweeted by the very Corporations.

MDP said that employees have been put in a critical conundrum, especially given that senior staff are involved in the recruitment. This is even more concerning, when those senior staff hold the threat of dismissal if the employees fail to sign to PPM.

MDP said this was a clear abuse of power on orders of President Abdullah Yameen, aided and abetted by senior staff and is in clear violation of the Employment Act and ILO accords. The Party called on the Government to cease such activities.