The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced an amendment to the Political Parties Act, stipulating that individuals who change parties without notifying the ECM will be returned to their original parties.
The amendment brought to Article 19 of the Act specifies that individuals must be removed from their party within 14 days of requesting a change. If this is not implemented, the individual's name will be removed from the party register through arrangements made by the ECM. Furthermore, the amendment mandates that an individual's name will be removed from the register if a political party member runs for a position they are unable to fulfil or if they are registered with a party without their knowledge.
Previously, party members can resign from parties after submitting a special form to the ECM. If the request for a party change is made for a particular reason, the ECM has the authority to consider that reason before removing the individual's name from the register. Additionally, individuals whose names have been removed from their party through this process cannot re-register with the respective party.