EC initiates dissolution of PPM in line with senate decision

Elections Commission (EC) has initiated the dissolution of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) following the party’s Senate’s decision to dissolve the party which ruled the Maldives from 2013 and 2018.

PPM’s Senate unanimously voted to dissolve the party during an emergency meeting held on December 2nd.

EC, in an announcement on Wednesday, said they have initiated the process of dissolving the party in accordance with Article 30 (a) (2) of the Political Parties Act following the Senate’s decision.

During this process, the EC emphasized that the party will be prohibited from engaging in political activities or conducting transactions that fall outside the procedures that must be completed before the party can be dissolved.

The Commission has directed to contact the party to finalize any pending matters before the dissolution process is completed.

PPM was officially registered as a political party on October 27, 2011. Elections Commission (EC)’s website shows 34,694 members are registered to the party as of September 19th of this year.

Notably, PPM’s senate held and emergency meeting on October 17th. Changes were brought to the party’s Articles of Association during the meeting to ease the process of dissolution.

In this regard, the provision mandating a 3/4 Senate vote to dissolve the party was amended to a 2/3 Senate vote. The Articles of Association previously stated that dissolution could be proposed due to financial difficulties. This was revised to allow dissolution to be proposed for reasons considered appropriate by the party's leadership.

No efforts have been undertaken to boost PPM’s membership since the incumbent administration took office last year under a coalition with the party. In fact, PPM has seen the exit of over 7,400 members during the period.

In contrast, the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) is on a mission to boost its membership to 100,000.

PNC was founded by former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in 2019, amid a legal dispute over the ownership of PPM. Yameen would go on to win the case, after which PNC operated as PPM’s sister party. But after PPM’s presidential candidate, the then-jailed Yameen was disqualified from running in the 2023 elections. The then-opposition coalition decided to produce a candidate from PNC – President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu – who would go on to win the election.

Following his election win, President Muizzu was quickly elected as PNC’s president, and the party grew more prominent, outshining PPM. Meanwhile, Yameen, who had been the leader of PPM and headed the coalition, left the coalition to form a new party, the People’s National Front (PNF), after accusing the leadership of deliberately sidelining him.

PNC states its membership has exceeded 82,000 as of present – marking the highest number of members in a political party in the Maldives to date. Main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) that had long remained the largest political party in the Maldives with approximately 50,000 members, effectively, has dropped down to second largest behind PNC.