Fake membership: penalty delayed, another chance to parties
This, Fuad said, was done after taking into account the suggestions made by the parties to the commission.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
The Election Commission (EC) has deferred its decision to impose a fine on political parties for inducting members into their respective parties without their knowledge and has decided on giving the parties another chance.
The increase in the number of people being inducted into the parties without their knowledge has been on the rise and the steps taken to combat the issue are as follows:
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Imposing a fine on the political party; MVR 10,000 for each fraudulent form
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For the first fraudulent form case, the party registrar is to be fined MVR 5,000
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For the second time and onwards, the registrar will be fined MVR 10,000
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The EC had decided to implement these regulations from April 2022.
EC president Fuad Thaufeeq told Atoll Times on Thursday that the decision to impose fines has not been implemented and has been put on hold for the time being. This, he said, was done after taking into account the suggestions made by the parties to the commission.
The concerns expressed by the parties, according to Fuad are:
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Not verifying the applicant; when forms are sent from all parts of the country to enter the party, it is not possible to ascertain who is filing the fake form as it reaches the party office with the forms of many people
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Therefore, it is not fair to penalise the entire party along with the party registrar
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Penalty payment is too much financial burden on parties; state releases funds to only four parties
"They are saying that for example, if 20 out of 30 forms are fake, then there is a fine of MVR 200,000. It was pointed out that it would be very difficult for them," Fuad said.
"It's not about not being fined in any way. We are giving more time to the parties to check their forms."
While the EC has decided to defer the fine, the commission did not give a date for the implementation of it either.
