President ratifies revision; admin fee for presidential candidates raised to MVR 100K

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has ratified the two amendments to Presidential Elections Act, meaning presidential candidates will need to pay a MVR 100,000 administrative fee in order to compete in elections.

The two amendments to Presidential Elections Act were passed by People’s Majlis on July 4, with the vote of 31 lawmakers.

Yameen ratified the amendments this Monday and the amendments have been published on the Government Gazette.

The amendments took affect the moment it was published on the Government Gazette.

This means candidates who wish to complete in the upcoming Presidential Elections will need to pay an administrative fee of MVR 100,000.

The administrative fee for presidential candidates previously was MVR 40,000.

Also, any person who held citizenship in any country other than Maldives will need to wait 10 years after leaving the citizenship before he can complete in Presidential Election.

Elections Commission has said candidacy for Presidential Elections 2018 will be opened on July 15. The election is scheduled to be held on September 23.

Incumbent President Yameen has already announced he will be running for re-election on behalf of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), while the opposition has declared leader of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s parliamentary group, MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (Ibu) as their presidential candidate.

Former Minister of Home Affairs, Umar Naseer, and former Deputy President of Local Government Authority (LGA), Shujau Hussain will be competing as independent candidates.