Elections Commission of Maldives has amended Political Party Regulations which allows to dissolve a political party if resources of other political parties are used in the formations of a new party.
The new regulation grants the right to file cases at investigative authorities, if the process of forming a new party vacates the leadership posts of an existing party, halts the operation of an existing party or if resources of an existing political party are used in forming a new party. The regulation also grants the authority to cancel the permit given to form a new party in any aforementioned situations.
Moreover, the regulation states if any political party does not allocate an individual who will be responsible for the debts of the party, the debts must be paid off by the then leader of the party. The regulation requires all political parties to forward a name to the commission to declare as the bearer of debts.
Following the publication of the new regulation, Mohamed Hussain Shareef who recently joined People's National Congress (PNC) said Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and PNC share close bonds assuring no resources from other parties were used in the registration of PNC. He noted the debts of PPM are not cleared as the electoral body has not issued the sum allocated from the state budget.