Elections Commission has decided to amend the Political Parties Act to read that the State must issue funds to all political parties through the designated allocation in the State budget.
Elections Commission has decided to amend the Political Parties Act to read that the State must issue funds to all political parties through the designated allocation in the State budget.
As the law now stands, the State must issue funds relative to the number of members to each political party which has a membership exceeding 10,000.
At present, there are six political parties that meet this requirement, and the State disbursed MVR 44 million to them this year.
The Elections Commission has now compiled a draft of proposed amendments to this requirement.
Elections Commission President Fuad Thaufeeq told Mihaaru that the amendments would be submitted to the Attorney General's Office before the end of the week. He said that this change to how funds will be allocated to parties is amongst the key changes proposed.
New recommendations on allocating funds to parties:
- 25 percent of total budget allocation to be disbursed amongst parties with a membership of 3000 and over
- 25 percent of total budget allocation to be disbursed amongst parties with a membership of 10,000 and over
- 30 percent in consideration of votes received by political parties in parliamentary elections
- 20 percent in consideration of votes received by political parties in local council elections
Fuad said that this amendment has been in discussion since 2020, at which time the commission had sought opinions of political parties on the matter as well.
In addition to this, Fuad said that the amendments propose granting an ease on the current requirement to hold congress every five years, allowing for delays with justifiable reasons.
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