Parties were removed from registry, not dissolved: Elections Commission

The Elections Commission has said that it has not dissolved any political party after the Political Party Act came into effect, but all parties except five have been removed from the commission’s registry.

Vice President of Elections Commission Ahmed Fayaz Hassan said at a press conference today that no party has been dissolved, but all eleven parties that did not have 10,000 members have been removed from the political party registry held by the commission. He said that parties will be dissolved due to failure to meet the membership requirement only after the Supreme Court makes a decision on the case filed in relation to the Political Party Bill.

“The newly enforced Political Party Act gives Elections Commission the authority to dissolve political parties... But Elections Commission has not dissolved any party since the Political Party Act came into effect yesterday, and five parties remain on the registry since the Political Party Bill was ratified,” Fayaz said.

When asked if it was due to the negligence of the Elections Commission that two parties that had submitted more than 10,000 membership forms were removed from the commission’s registry, Fayaz said that work had been ongoing by the commission to include the forms, and that some of the forms that had been submitted were not valid.

He said that discussions are under way to ascertain how to proceed with the funds that had been released by the state to the parties that were removed from the commission’s registry.

Fayaz said that action will be taken against parties that are no longer on the registry but continue conduct political activities as a party.

Member of Elections Commission Ali Mohamed Manik referred to the issue of people being cheated into joining political parties without their knowledge, and said that this is a common and serious problem. He said that attempts have even been made to register deceased persons as members of political parties.

When asked by Sun Online which parties he was referring to, he said that further details cannot be disclosed as the matter is under investigation.

Ali Mohamed Manik said that this problem was somewhat solved when membership forms were required to include fingerprints, and that following the ratification of the Political Party Bill, the commission will only accept membership forms with fingerprint copies.