The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has informed Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) that it has reached the minimum number of members required to operate as a political party.
The Political Parties Act states that a political party can be formed after it has submitted 3,000 membership signatures to the ECM and should maintain 3,000 members to function as a political party. However, the electoral body has notified four parties that have lost members since their formation and requested that they obtain 3,000 members. The four parties submitted the required number of forms within the time frame.
The notices were sent to the DRP, the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), the Maldives Labour and the Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party (MLSD), and the Maldives Third-Way Democrats (MTD). DRP was one of the first political parties to be formed in the Maldives, and MRM is led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. ECM has since notified MRM, MTD, and DRP that they have met the membership requirement while the forms submitted by MLSD are still being processed.
A total of 11 political parties are registered in the Maldives, but most have fewer 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 such, the Ministry of Finance has distributed state funds to four eligible political parties. 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. The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), and government coalition partners Jumhooree Party (JP) and Adhaalath Party (AP) are the four parties eligible for state funds.