An amendment to the Political Party Act in August mandates all party membership forms to carry the fingerprint of the member. Elections Commission has decided to void existing members without fingerprints on their respective membership form from January. Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) had jointly filed the case at the Civil Court seeking to block the decision. AP said the decision to seek intervention was made during a council sit-down on Wednesday. If the Elections Commission's decision is upheld, ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) will overtake MDP as the largest party in the archipelago. PPM had been formed shortly after the new Political Party Act came into effect. In addition to the fingerprint requirement, the recently ratified amendment to the Political Party Act mandates every registered party to have a minimum of 3,000 members. The amendment states that parties with less than 3,000 members will be given three months to meet the requirement. And if they fail, the party would become void after the three-month period. Elections Commission announced last month that eight political parties that failed to meet the minimum number of members required according to law have been abolished. The eight parties that were abolished are Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), People’s Alliance (PA), Maldivian Social Democratic Party (MSDP), People’s Party, Maldives National Congress (MNC), Maldivian Liberal Party and Social Liberal Party. The new amendment to the Political Party Act also states that only parties with 10,000 members are entitled state funds. Out of the 14 registered parties in the country, only opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and Jumhoory Party (JP) have over 10,000 members and will be guaranteed state funds next year. Religious conservative Adhaalath Party has 9,000 members while government's coalition partner Maldives Democratic Alliance (MDA) has 7,000. MDA recently kick-started a campaign to increase membership.