The Election Commission (EC) has fined Maldives National Party (MNP), Maldives Third Way Democrats (MTD) and The Democrats MVR 50,000.

In a post on X today, the EC said it has decided to impose a fine of MVR 50,000 on each party for failing to submit its audit report as per the Provisions of the Political Parties Act.

Section 42 of the Political Parties Act stipulates that the annual accounts of the party shall be audited by an auditor recognised by the Auditor General within a maximum period of 90 days from the end of every parliamentary year and the audit report shall be submitted to the Commission and the Auditor General.

Section 44(b) of the Act says that the EC has the power to impose a fine of MVR 20,000 to MVR 50,000 on a party if it fails to maintain account documents in accordance with the Act or submits any financial report to be submitted to the commission under the Act.

The same clause (c) also says that apart from imposing a penalty on the party, section 40 of the Act empowers the EC to impose a fine ranging from MVR 5,000 to MVR 10,000 to a person nominated by a party.