Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has held discussions with relevant authorities regarding the candidates who competed in the parliamentary elections and have not yet submitted the financial reports.
The meeting was attended by officials from Prosecutor General's Office (PG Office) and Maldives Police Service (MPS). During the meeting, ECM revealed 39 candidates failed to submit financial statements before the deadline, while 347 candidates submitted financial statements following the parliamentary elections held last April.
According to Elections General Act, 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.
Candidates who failed to submit the statements include 31 independent candidates, 2 candidates from Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), 1 candidate from People's National Congress (PNC) and one candidate from Adhaalath Party (AP). Moreover, 2 candidates from Maldives Third-Way Democrats (MTD) and 2 candidates from Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party (MLSDP) did not submit financial statements.
According to the amendment brought to Elections General Act in 2018, violators face a jail sentence between 6 and 24 months or a fine between USD 388 and USD 1,552.