Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has decided to submit to the court to find a solution to the decision of the Election Commission of the Maldives (ECM) to dissolve the party.
DRP said in a statement that it is preparing to form a new political party under the name of JDP if the court does not resolve the issue. In the statement, DRP said that the current leadership of the party took over in 2019 and had to resolve the debt issues and strengthen the party's administrative system. The DRP said in a statement that the party's decision to dissolve the party is an attempt to undermine democracy in the Maldives.
The statement also said that the decision to dissolve the party at a time when its current leader Parliamentarian Abdulla Jabir is contesting for the upcoming presidential election is foreign to democracy. As such, DRP decided to go to court to prevent the dissolution of the second-only political party in the Maldives.
ECM stated that the party had not reached the 3,000 members required to operate a political party before the three-month deadline. ECM also made major changes to the party's membership forms. DRP has 2,681 members, according to the political party register. There are 11 political parties on the register, most of which have less than 10,000 members. The law states that 3,000 members are needed for a party to be included in the electoral register. Meanwhile, political parties with 10,000 members receive funds from the state budget.