Malé, Maldives – Election Commission (EC) has ordered Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) not to conduct any activities in its name until the procedures are completed to dissolve the party because it does not have the number of members required by law.
DRP, led by Kashidhoo MP Abdullah Jabir, has been decided to be dissolve by EC after several opportunities to reach the required number of 3,000 members was given.
According to the Political Parties Act, parties that do not have enough members must be dissolved by the commission if they fail to do so after giving them a deadline.
Elections Commission Chairman Fuwad Thowfeek told that the DRP was given three months to increase its membership as the number of members had fallen below 3,000.
“According to the law, we give three months notice to a political party that does not have 3,000 members and if it does not meet the requirements within that period, we will have to take necessary steps to dissolve the party,” he said.
DRP was registered on July 15, 2005, the second political party in Maldives. The first leader of the party was former President Maumoon Abdul Qayoom.
In 2019, Abdullah Jabir, MP for Kaashidhoo took over as the party leader on July 23, 2019. He has also announced that he will contest the presidential election on the DRP ticket.
DRP have been relatively inactive in the political sphere of the country over internal disruptions and the debt of the party had also increased significantly.
