DRP's run as one of Maldives' oldest parties ends with dissolution
Maumoon's faction registered PPM in the subsequent split after handing over the party to Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Dhivehi Rayyithunnge Party (DRP), one of the country's oldest and previously largest political parties, was dissolved on Wednesday due to its low membership, which went below the legally required 3,000-member threshold.
Maldives Labour and Social Democratic Party (Labour Party) was also dissolved.
To match the number mentioned in the law:
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The Elections Commission had given a three-month notice to both parties
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During the notice period, neither of the two parties could cross the 3,000-mark
EC said that a responsible person or body for the party’s debts had not been assigned even when the two parties were dissolved, and they were given the opportunity to inform. If there is a debt in both the parties, the EC has held that a person who was at the helm of affairs in the party at the time of the creation of the debt should be held responsible for it, based on the rules of political parties.
However, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's faction registered PPM in the subsequent split after handing over the party to Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, who served as home minister during Maumoon's tenure.
Thasmeen, who is now the Maldivian ambassador in Singapore, was one of the biggest spenders for DRP. When he left the party, he handed over charge of the party to former Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed.
Kaashidhoo MP Abdulla Jabir later took over the party from Nasheed.
