Parliament has today passed the amendment to the Political Parties Act which now bans the use of colours and emblems of defunct parties for five years since being dissolved.
Parliament has today passed the amendment to the Political Parties Act which now bans the use of colours and emblems of defunct parties for five years since being dissolved.
With this amendment now passed, names, colors, logos, and symbols associated with defunct parties can no longer be used for a period of five years.
The bill proposed by ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP for Dhihdhoo Abdul Latheef Mohamed, also includes changes to how the State issues funds to political parties. Now, instead of allocating 0.1 percent of the total annual budget, between 0.1 and 0.2 percent of the projected revenue in the budget will be allocated for political parties.
With this change, allocation from the State budget for political parties will be significantly reduced.
The bill also states that those who contravene the Political Parties Act will be fined between MVR 30,000 and MVR 75,000. The fines have been raised from the earlier set MVR 5000 to MVR 10,000.
In addition to this, the party that such an offender represents will also be levied a fine of MVR 100,000. The Act previously did not include any such fines against political parties.
The article in the Political Parties Act which said that a candidate who contested in party primaries cannot contest for the same election in another capacity has now been removed.
In today's vote, 61 members voted in favour of this bill, while 10 voted against.
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