The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced that five political parties are eligible to receive state funding in 2025.
According to the Political Parties Act, funding from the state budget is distributed to political parties with a minimum membership of 10,000. The five parties that qualify to receive funding from the 2025 budget are:
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)
Peoples’ National Congress (PNC)
Adhaalath Party (AP)
Jumhooree Party (JP)
Maldives Development Alliance (MDA)
The Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) also meets the 10,000 member threshold. However, as the party’s Senate had decided to dissolve the party earlier this month, allocations have not been made for the party from the budget, ECM confirmed.
ECM further stated that the amount to be disbursed to each party will be determined based on the final number of members registered to the parties by the end of December.
Previously, 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the total state budget was allocated as funding for political parties. However, amendments to the law now allocates 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the government's’ estimated revenue for the year.
In the 2024 budget, USD 2.8 million was allocated to six political parties, including PPM. The same five parties qualified to receive funding next year were also recipients in 2024.