Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has declined the cases against parliamentary candidates who failed to submit financial reports within deadline. Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) sent cases of 39 parliamentary candidates to raise charges.
Spokesperson and member of ECM Ahmed Akram said PGO has sent back the cases asking to resubmit the case after completing an investigation. However, he did not reveal any further details.
A report detailing the financial matters of the election must be prepared and submitted by each candidate within 30 days following the election, including, expenses incurred by the candidate, details of the expenses incurred during the electoral campaign, details of the manner in which contributions were procured for election expenses, details of persons and amounts contributed as election expenses and a bank account statement which shows all the transactions carried out from the account opened for the election, according to General Elections Act.
Candidates who failed to submit the statements include 31 independent candidates, 3 candidates from the opposition coalition and 1 candidate from Adhaalath Party (AP). Moreover, 4 candidates from Maldives Third-Way Democrats (MTD) and Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party (MLSDP) also failed to submit financial statements.
Any election, failing to uphold any mentioned action in the law is considered an electoral violation and any individual found in violation of the law is guilty of an offence and offenders could face imprisonment for a term between 6-24 months or a fine, to be determine based on the magnitude of the offence, according to the amendment to the Elections General Act.