Island Aviation Takes Legal Action Against MDP Over Unpaid Campaign Expenses

Island Aviation Services (IAS) has initiated legal action against the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) over unpaid charges amounting to MVR 5.6 million for tickets and charter flights utilised during last year’s presidential election campaign.

Speaking on behalf of the company, Managing Director Ibrahim Iyas confirmed that the case was filed in court yesterday following repeated failures by MDP to fulfil payment obligations for campaign-related travel expenses with Maldivian Airlines.

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“We lodged a case in Civil Court yesterday due to MDP’s outstanding payments related to their subsequent campaign flights with Maldivian Airlines,” stated Iyas.

The outstanding charges, totalling MVR 5.6 million, stem from tickets and charter flights utilised by MDP between September and October last year.

Iyas disclosed that numerous correspondence attempts had been made with the then-ruling party to settle the dues. Despite setting multiple deadlines, payment from MDP remains outstanding.

“MDP had sought clarification on certain matters, to which we responded and extended another deadline. However, they failed to honour this agreement,” remarked Iyas.

He further revealed that MDP initially agreed to a 48-hour extension but subsequently failed to meet the revised deadline. Iyas highlighted the company’s adherence to stricter agreements compared to previous management practices.

This isn’t the first instance where Island Aviation Services has encountered payment issues with a political party. Similar challenges were faced during the tenure of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), with the then-ruling party failing to settle outstanding dues for flights and tickets utilised during their presidential campaign.