Maldives' ruling party on Wednesday spearheaded an amendment to the political party law which would look to significantly slash state funds handed to political parties with just a little under three months remaining for the presidential elections.
According to the present law, political parties are entitled to an allocation of the annual state budget. The figure to be disseminated would be between 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the annual state budget.
However, the amendment submitted by ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) lawmaker Jameel Usman states that the total amount political parties would receive would be 0.05 percent of the projected state revenue stipulated in the annual budget.
In that regard, the figure must not exceed MVR10 million, the amendment read.
State funds are currently entitled to political parties with minimum 10,000 members. The commission had allocated MVR24 million for political parties this year.
