Finance Ministry said on Thursday that funds have been released from the state budget to the four eligible political parties this month.
Elections Commission (EC) had sent over a list of the four parties that are eligible to state funds to Finance Ministry in March. The money is allocated according to the number of members each party has.
The most money was handed over to Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), the ruling party in the coalition lead administration.
1. MDP: MVR 15.02 million (54,660 members)
2. Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM): MVR 9.4 million (34,237 members)
3. Jumhooree Party (JP): MVR 5.53 million (10,554 members)
4. Adaalath Party: MVR 2.9 million
PPM received their funds on April 18. The funds for the other three parties were released earlier, on April 7.
Finance Ministry said that the release of funds to PPM was delayed due to a case related to the party held at the Civil Court. MVR 8.9 million was released to PPM following the verdict. This is MVR 500,000 less than the amount submitted by the EC.
However, it is unclear what case was in the civil court.
PPM had submitted complaints to EC this month stating 5,000 of their members have been admitted to other parties without their knowledge. EC has decided to conduct an audit in its registration section to address and solve this issue.
According to the Political Party Act, parties with 10,000 members will receive the funds provided by the state. According to the constitution, 0.1 percent of the state budget must be released to political parties every year. The People's Majlis has passed a budget of MVR 37 billion for this year.
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