The parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions has approved the state-lobbied amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act, to increase the fee to apply for parliament candidacy.
The bill proposed by Fares Maathodaa MP Hussain Mohamed Latheef of ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), seeks to triple the member candidacy fee from MVR 5,000 to MVR 15,000. The reason for the amendment was stated as to strengthen election proceedings, and to ensure free and trustworthy elections.
The independent institutions committee had passed the bill, without further amendments, on July 10 and forwarded it to the parliament floor for debate. The parliament is yet to announce a date to take a vote.
The parliament had recently also passed an amendment to the Presidential Elections Act, to raise the presidential candidacy deposit fee from MVR 40,000 to MVR 100,000. It was ratified by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom earlier this month.
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