High Court of the Maldives has rejected the case filed to overturn the decision of the Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) to dissolve the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP). The High Court stated that the issue does not fall under its jurisdiction.
In December 2022, ECM ordered DRP not to conduct any political activities as efforts are ongoing to dissolve the party. ECM issued a written directive to the party not to conduct any political activities in the name of the DRP and to complete the dissolution procedure as per the law. ECM stated that the party had not reached the 3,000 members required to operate a political party before the three-month deadline. DRP filed the case in court on January 24.
The current leader of the DRP is Parliamentarian Abdulla Jabir. DRP is one of the first registered parties in the country and was founded by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. DRP split and members switched to other parties when the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) was formed due to differences of opinion in the party's leadership.
DRP currently has 2,483 members, according to the political party registry. There are 11 political parties on the registry, 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 registry. Political parties with 10,000 members receive funds from the state budget.