The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has revealed four political parties are eligible for state funds.
The Political Parties Act states 0.01% of the state budget should be distributed to registered political parties with 10,000 or more members.
Speaking to PSM News, the President of ECM Fuad Thaufeeq said four parties have the adequate number of members to qualify for state funds when the state budget for 2022 was approved.
The qualified parties are the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), as well as government coalition partners Jumhooree Party (JP) and Adhaalath Party (AP). As such, MDP has 50,505 members, PPM has 35,350 members, JP has 12,747 members and AP has 11,306 members.
Furthermore, Fuad said the ECM is working to release the state funds before March and is also approving the membership applications sent by the parties. Currently, the electoral body has a total of 26,853 unconfirmed membership applications, with 12,625 applications from MDP, 11,512 from JP, 850 from PPM, and 165 Maldives National Party (MNP).
There are currently 11 registered political parties in the Maldives.