The Election Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has decided to allocate USD2.9 million among six political parties eligible to receive state funds under the Political Parties Act.
The Political Parties Act states 0.01% of the state budget should be distributed to registered political parties with at least 10,000 members. ECM stated that six parties have the adequate number of members to qualify for state funds when the state budget for 2024 passed on December 13, 2023. The qualified parties are Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), Jumhooree Party, Adhaalath Party, Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), and the People's National Congress.
As of December 13, 2023, MDP has 52,142 members, PPM has 36,223 members, the Congress Party has 28,201 members, JP has 18,349 members, MDA has 8,555 members, and Adhaalath Party has 8,796 members. Therefore, MDP receives USD979,000, PPM receives USD674,000, the Congress Party receives USD519,000, JP receives USD344,000, MDA receives USD156,000, and Adhaalath Party receives USD162,000.
There are currently 10 registered political parties in the Maldives. The parties which have less than 10,000 members are The Democrats, Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), Maldives National Party (MNP), and the Maldives Third-Way Democrats (MTD).