EC digitalizes political party membership process

Elections Commission (EC), on Thursday, has digitalized the political party membership process via an online portal and accordingly amended the regulations to reflect the change. 

As per the regulation published by EC on Thursday, the Commission’s ‘Simedhi’ portal can now be utilized to submit applications for membership by new political parties when filing for registration and by existing political parties to submit applications for membership to increase their membership.

The regulation states EC will publicize the names submitted via the portal for public complaints.

The regulation mandates political parties to maintain the records of membership applications filed via the portal. It also mandates EC to set forth circumstances under which membership applications cannot be submitted via the portal.

A permit needs to be sought from EC to use the Simedhi portal.

The change comes after main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) was accused of submitting fake forms to inflate its membership.

Main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has filed a case with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Prosecutor General’s Office over the fake forms in January. Members of the general public have also raised complaints after being fraudulently enrolled in PNC.