Two political parties fined

Elections Commission has fined Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Elections Commission said that PPM was fined MVR 6,000 for submitting membership forms in violation of the Political Parties Act, while DRP was fined MVR 5,000 for submitting several membership forms with the same fingerprint.

Ruling party PPM was first fined in January 2014 for submitting a membership on behalf of a dead person.

Statistics published by Elections Commission following the first round of the Presidential Election showed that DRP had 19,308 members, and PPM had 24,311 members.

DRP and PPM are the two biggest political parties in the Maldives after opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Their present membership numbers are unknown.