The main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) has become the largest political party in the Maldives with nearly 69,000 members amid allegations that the party used fake forms to boost its membership.
The PNC had some 28,000 members by the end of September 2024.
But according to the updated political party membership registries released by the Elections Commission on Thursday, the party added some 40,000 new members over three months, boosting its membership to 68,968 as of December 31, 2024.
Meanwhile, membership of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), previously the largest political party with over 50,000 members, has dropped to 43,755.
Political party membership as of 2024’s end:
People’s National Congress (PNC): 68,968 members
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP): 43,755 members
Jumhoory Party (JP): 13,826 members
Maldives Development Alliance (MDA): 9,210 members
Maldives National Party (MNP): 6,050 members
The Democrats: 3,667 members
Maldives Third-way Democrats (MTD): 2,359 members
People’s National Front (PNF): 2,822 members
While the ruling PNC has seen an increase in its membership, membership at all other political parties have declined.
Meanwhile, the information released by the EC shows that the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) – which is in the process of dissolution – has 1,826 members.
Political parties are required to maintain membership at minimum 3,000 in order to continue to operate as registered political parties.
Political parties with upwards of 10,000 members are eligible to funding from the state budget. This funding is provided based solely on the number of members.
The rise in membership of the PNC comes amid allegations the party used fraudulent forms to boost its membership in order to get more funding from the state.
The MDP - which said it received complaints from over 3,000 people regarding fake membership forms to the PNC in their name using old national ID card photos, and forged signatures and fingerprints – has lodged a police case over the issue.
It also lodged a corruption case with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) after photos emerged showing senior government officials filling PNC forms in a meeting room at the Department of National Registration (DNR).
The PNC has admitted to submitting several unverified membership forms to the Elections Commission. But they said it hasn’t been deliberate, and that the party lacks the capacity to verify forms.
The EC has suspended the membership process as it investigates the recent issue of fake forms, and is set to digitalize the political party membership process so that people can only apply for membership via eFaas.
The commission has said that the digitalization of the process will close the door to fake forms.