Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed has said that the major problem with the bill on political parties recently passed by the parliament is that political parties with less than 10,000 members will be dissolved once the bill is ratified.
The bill has been passed by the parliament without any revision after it was returned by the president for reconsideration by the parliament.
Nasheed said on a program on DhiFM today that the major problem with the bill is not the minimum membership requirement of 10,000 for political parties, but the lack of the opportunity for parties to fulfil this requirement once the bill is ratified.
“The major problem with the bill is not the minimum membership requirement of 10,000. It is a problem of equal seriousness that parties with less than 10,000 members will be dissolved once the bill is ratified. About eleven parties will be dissolved without being given the chance to increase membership,” he said.
He said that a period of three months was included in the bill for parties to increase membership to 10,000 when it was first written; however, a shortcoming in the bill has resulted in the dissolution of small parties from the day the bill is passed. He said that this was the main reason why he did not vote in favour of passing the bill.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s (AG) Office filed a case to Supreme Court yesterday in relation to the bill on political parties. An official from the AG Office said that the case does not concern the issue of the dissolution of parties that have less than 10,000 members; rather, the purpose of the case is to find a solution to the lack of a clause in the bill that determines the party that would take responsibility for the financial debts of small parties once they are dissolved.