President of Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) Ahmed Shareef has revealed Ministry of Finance has been requested to release funds for Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
The finance ministry has deposited funds from the state to all political parties except the main opposition party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). The ministry revealed as per the request from Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM), funds were deposited within 7 working days.
In a tweet, Shareef said ECM has now requested finance ministry to deposit funds to PPM. Although all other political parties were provided with the funds, ECM did not reveal why funds of PPM were held back initially.
The state has allocated close to USD 1.7 million for all political parties with a membership of at least 10,000, as per the Political Party Act. In this regard, along with PPM, the main ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhooree Party (JP) and Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA) are subject to funds from the state.
MDP is subject to largest portion, which is USD 825,503, while JP and MDA has been allocated USD 133,381 and USD 131,555 respectively. Meanwhile, PPM has been allocated USD 607,166 which finance ministry has not released so far.
Previously, ECM said MDP and PPM would be fined USD 6,151 and USD 3,885 respectively over breaches in utilising party funds. The aforementioned fines were deducted from the funds before the deposit, according to ECM.