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ROCKVILLE, MD: May 14, 2023 – By Pieter Friedrich — The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC), on May 9, held its monthly meeting with a sizable group of school teachers, civil rights activists, and journalists seated in the audience.
The meeting was far more raucous than anticipated, with shouting across the room, a physical demonstration of the meanings of “shall” and “may” by a weary-looking committee-member, and another member publicly announcing — to the packed room — that they are “tired of being bullied.” More than one person in attendance said they were befuddled as to how and why this group of people were empowered to hand-pick state legislators, given how poorly they conducted themselves before a live audience.
Due to a controversial quirk of the Maryland constitution, the often shadowy committee plays an outsized role in state politics. Whenever a vacancy from their party occurs in the Montgomery County state delegation, the MCDCC is empowered to de-facto appoint legislators to the Maryland General Assembly. The last Republican elected from Montgomery County was defeated in 2006. While the appointment is styled as a “recommendation” to the governor, the state’s chief executive’s role is widely seen as pro-forma (much like the King of England technically “inviting” a majority party’s leader to be their next prime minister). So far, the MCDCC has appointed 38% of all legislators from Montgomery County, bypassing the county’s 676,753 registered voters.
On Tuesday night, MCDCC further voted down an effort to recuse its members from voting to appoint themselves to the state legislature.
Previously, several chairs of MCDCC have been appointed to the General Assembly by a simple majority of its two dozen members. On average, a Montgomery County legislative district is home to roughly 135,000 voters and no legislator appointed by the central committee has lost a future election bid over the past decade. In short, achieving office by initial appointment provides a massive leg-up in future elections through the power of incumbency.
Ambitions of Power
It is widely believed that Chair Saman Qadeer Ahmad has been trying to secure votes from MCDCC members for her own appointment to Annapolis from Montgomery County’s District 15, which includes portions of Potomac, Darnestown, the Agricultural Reserve, and North Potomac. Qadeer Ahmad’s ambition is seen as controversial for several reasons, not the least being that she barely won her seat on the central committee by a margin of 61 votes in an election where over 20,505 votes were cast. Several sources, both on and off the central committee, have noted her unethical approach to breaking MCDCC rules of procedure while chairing meetings. Complaints include: ignoring points of order raised by members during meetings, attempting to bar members of the public and journalists from committee meetings, as well public accusations of bullying by another committee member.
Accusations of Islamophobia
Chair Qadeer Ahmad has also been criticized by Muslim and South Asian activists for her efforts to silence critics of Maryland’s Lt. Governor, Aruna Miller. Earlier this year, No Separate Justice (NSJ), a non-profit launched by Indian-American academic Dr. Sana Qutubuddin to combat the spread of Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) influence in US politics, sent a strongly-worded letter to Qadeer Ahmad condemning her and her allies on the committee for “disparaging” candidates for legislative and political appointments made by the MCDCC: “Your actions so far are the antithesis of democracy itself and put into question the Democratic Party’s commitment to combating bigotry and Islamophobia as core values.”
The letter by NSJ references the deep ties of Maryland’s Lt. Governor Aruna Miller to the Hindu nationalist movement of India and accuses Qadeer Ahmad of seeking to silence Democratic Party activists who criticize Miller’s ties.
Lt Governor Miller has previously denied these ties. However, substantial press coverage and public evidence proves Miller’s denials to be inaccurate. Miller’s extensive ties to Hindu nationalists were documented by The Intercept & The Huffington Post. Miller was photographed in a selfie in 2014 at a rally for Hindu nationalist leader, Narendra Modi. Modi was banned for nine years from travel to the US for his role in orchestrating a pogrom against Muslims in India in 2002. Miller previously called Modi a “rockstar.” During the month of Ramadan, a national interfaith coalition — including the Indian American Muslim Council and Hindus for Human Rights — sent out a “red flag letter” urging houses of worship to not invite Miller over concerns she is seeking to “sanitize” her relationship with Hindu nationalists.
Party Elders Nonplussed
Mayor Jeffery Slavin, a long-time political insider and Democratic Party elder, sharply rebuked Saman Qadeer Ahmad as chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. Slavin pointed out that, despite party rules stating there must be a Spring Ball (Chapter 66.1, page 176 of the MCDCC Rules Handbook), Qadeer Ahmad’s mishandling of the party has led to them rescheduling the party’s only annual major fundraiser for the Autumn instead.
“She has no business being chair,” said Slavin, who was previously an executive board member of the Maryland Democratic Party.” He went on to accuse Qadeer Ahmad of “totally abusing her role and power.”
At the meeting on Tuesday night, Qadeer Ahmad refused to provide comments to reporters or answer any questions.