Following the ratification of the bill by the president, it has been declared that five parties possess the minimum of 10,000 members as stipulated by the political parties act, and that all other parties have therefore been dissolved.
According to the Elections Commission registry, the parties currently registered are Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Adhaalath Party (AP), Jumhooree Party (JP) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Even though Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and had submitted membership forms to the Elections Commission to reach the 10,000 member mark before the ratification of the bill, the party has been removed from the Elections Commission registry.
When asked whether MDA had submitted over 10,000 membership forms before the bill was ratified, and if it is not the responsibility of the Elections Commission to process the forms, Vice President of Elections Commission Fayaz Hassan said there is a law governing this issue, and that cases can be filed to court it people’s rights have been violated.
Elections Commission has also removed President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP) from its registry. GIP had submitted 9,800 membership forms.
Elections Commission also made an announcement today, to inform that all 16 political parties with the exception of five have been dissolved.
Secretary General of Elections Commission Asim Abdul Sattar told Sun Online today that MDA and GIP were dissolved because the two parties failed to have 10,000 registered members, after membership forms were processed until the bill on political parties was ratified by the president today.
President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeg said at the Parliament Committee on Independent Institutions today, that GIP and MDA had submitted about 9,800 and 11,000 forms respectively. He said that the accurate number of forms submitted by MDA will be known after the forms are processed.
“When we read the bill on political parties after it was passed by the parliament for a second time, what we understood is that parties with less than 10,000 members would be dissolved once the bill was passed for a second time. We believe that the parties that will continue to exist are the ones that have over 10,000 members,” Fuad said.
Efforts to obtain comments of GIP and MDA on their plan of action following their removal from the registry of Elections Commission, have not been successful.
The parties that were removed from the registry of Elections Commission are IDP, SLP, People’s Party, MNC, PA, GIP, MLP, DQP, MRM and MDA.
The Attorney General's Office has submitted the bill on political parties and the bill on parliament privileges and powers to the Supreme Court stating the two pieces of legislation hold a number of legal discrepancies.