EC unsuccessful in notifying four parties to achieve 10,000 membership

Elections Commission (EC) has revealed that they have been unsuccessful in notifying four political parties to bring their membership up to a minimum of 10,000 members, because the official notification could not be delivered as the parties did not have offices.

EC announced the four parties as; People’s Alliance (PA), Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), Social Liberal Party (SLP) and the Maldives Social Democratic Party (MSDP).

Article 27 (b) of the Political Parties Act requires the Commission to check the number of members of all registered political parties every six months, while Article 27 (c) states that three months’ notice should be issued to all political parties that do not have 10,000 members, to make efforts to fulfill this requirement.

Supreme Court has annulled Article 11 (a) of the Political Parties Act, which states that 10,000 membership forms should be submitted to register a political party, reasoning that it infringes the freedom to form political parties, associations and societies, as granted by Article 30 (a) of the Constitution.