The Elections Commission (EC) has stated that they have sent instructions to the bank to deposit funds for political parties that meet the membership threshold specified by law.

Out of the nine political parties registered with the EC, only five meet the required number of members as stated in the law. These are the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), the current opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the Jumhooree Party (JP) which is part of the government coalition, the Adhaalath Party, and the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) which has recently left the government coalition.

The EC said that they have sent instructions to the bank to deposit funds from this year's budget to political parties that had 10,000 members as of the day the People's Majlis approved this year's budget.

The ruling PNC receives the most funds from this year's budget, followed by the opposition MDP.

Details of funds disbursed to political parties:

  • People's National Congress - MVR 13,316,689.57
  • Maldivian Democratic Party - MVR 8,454,780.51
  • Jumhooree Party - MVR 2,656,598.57
  • Maldives Development Alliance - MVR 1,769,648.69
  • Adhaalath Party - MVR 1,713,5338.65

According to the Political Parties Act, the funds allocated from the state budget for running political parties is 0.1 percent of the estimated annual revenue in the state budget. The EC has stated that the five political parties with 10,000 members registered by December 31, 2024, will receive MVR 193.23 per member based on their membership numbers.

As per the EC registry, as of June 30 this year, PNC has the highest number of members.

Membership numbers of parties receiving funds:

  • People's National Congress - 68,665 members
  • Maldivian Democratic Party - 43,765 members
  • Jumhooree Party - 13,456 members
  • Maldives Development Alliance - 9,158 members
  • Adhaalath Party - 8,844 members

Although there are nine political parties registered with the EC, parties that do not meet the membership threshold specified by law do not receive funds.