The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has nullified the permission it had given to form Aammu Rayyithunge Party (ARP).
ECM had given permission to Parliamentarian Ahmed Saeed to form ARP in February 2020. Vice President of ECM Ismail Habeeb said the permission had been nullified after the parliamentarian failed to submit the required number of membership application forms.
The Political Parties Act states that a political party can be formed after it has submitted 3,000 membership signatures to the ECM. A total of 11 political parties are registered in the Maldives but most have less than 10,000 members. Parties with 3,000 members are allowed to remain registered while parties with 10,000 members receive funds from the state budget, as the Political Parties Act states that 0.01% of the state budget should be distributed to registered political parties with 10,000 or more members.
Four political parties have recently obtained 3,000 members after the ECM warned that it will nullify parties that have less than 3,000 registered members. The electoral body stated it is confirming the validity of the new membership applications and will nullify parties that have failed to reach the required number of members.