EC introduces immediate withdrawal option for political party members

The Elections Commission (EC) has announced regulatory changes that will allow individuals to withdraw from political parties immediately through the commission’s main portal, starting Thursday.

The EC said the amendments are aimed at simplifying and expediting both party membership registration and withdrawal processes. The changes apply to three key areas:

• Registration of members in political party registers  

• Resignation from a political party register  

• Requests by political parties to remove members from their registers  

Under the new rules, political parties will be given 30 days to process membership‑related requests submitted through the main portal. If a party fails to act within the deadline, the individual will be automatically registered with the party, according to the EC.

A major change is that individuals who submit a request to withdraw from a political party through the portal will now be removed from the register immediately.

However, the EC noted that members holding senior positions within political parties must first resign from those posts before leaving the party or joining another one. This requirement applies to all senior officials registered with the commission.

Political parties seeking to remove a member from their register can submit expulsion requests through the Simedha portal provided to them by the EC.