The Election Commission (EC) has said that MVR 44 million will be required for the second round of the presidential election and the commission will request the funds from Finance Ministry on Wednesday.

Speaking to the press, EC Vice President Ismail Habib said journalists had questioned whether they had received the required budget for the second round of elections. Habib added that parliament had passed a budget for the presidential election, but it did not have enough funds for the second round.

Habib said the commission has already prepared the budget for the second round of presidential elections.

"The commission estimates that the budget will cost around MVR 44 million. We will request the Finance Ministry tomorrow to get this budget," Habib said.

Habib said the second round of work could not be carried out without the budget as officials and ballot paper matters had to be spent heavily, and hoped that the finance ministry would release the MVR 44 million budget.

The second round of presidential elections will be held on May 30, with PNC presidential candidate Dr. Mohamed Muiz, who secured the highest number of votes in the first round, and MDP's presidential candidate, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who secured the second highest number of votes.