Committee recommends changes to parties' funding policy
In September, EC started posting the names of those who had applied to join political parties on their websites.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Parliamentary committee on independent bodies has recommended the parliament to instruct the government to move an amendment to the Political Parties Act in line with the Election Commission's (EC) recommendations to change the funding policy for political parties.
The committee’s decision to recommend this to the government was entailed in its report prepared after examining the case filed by Velidhoo MP Mohamed Abdulla Shafeeg, expressing concern over the procedures followed in admitting and expelling people to political parties. The committee's report was tabled in the parliament on Wednesday, but it is yet to be put to a vote.
Expressing concern over the admittance of people into political parties without their knowledge, Mohamed Abdulla Shafiq listed in the motion he filed in June:
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Such acts deprive those who want to work for a particular political ideology to exercise this right
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Political parties suffer undue benefits and losses
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The EC’s approach in dealing with such complaints is leading to more problems
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People's lack faith in the political party system and in turn creates more hardships for the people
To study the issue, the committee met with the EC to discuss the challenges faced and possible solutions.
Some of the issues flagged by the committee are:
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Failure to verify the authenticity of fingerprints
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Issues related to expulsion of people from parties
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Likely that people are being dragged into parties by submitting unverified forms because of state spending policy on political parties
The EC believes that people are being involuntarily admitted to parties because the state is funding the parties. The commission noted that if the state ceases funding parties, the problem will be solved.
As the law stands now:
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Only parties that have more than 10,000 members are funded by the government, in a ratio that matches the members
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Many complain that some parties are trying to increase their numbers by submitting unverified forms to meet the criteria
"EC notes that if the state is to formulate a policy that governs state funding for political parties, and to resolve the difficulties in joining and leaving the party, then one of the best solutions will be to establish a policy of disbursing funds to the parties based on the number of votes they poll in elections," the committee’s report read.
The committee's decision:
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Immediate changes should be made to put an end to the entry of people into political parties, transfer of people from one party to another and expulsion of members from the party
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Lay down rules for upholding existing registrations of people should they prove that they have been registered in another political party without their knowledge.
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Amending the Political Parties Act
"Independent institutions have received the amendments made by the EC to amend the Political Parties Act, including the advice of the Attorney General's Office; these amendments should be tabled in parliament as a bill," the committee said in its report.
The issue of fake forms looming large, the EC has already taken some measures to combat it:
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If an unverified registration is found in the party admittance forms received since April and in future, the relevant party shall be fined MVR 10,000 for each form
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In addition, the party’s registrar will also be fined MVR 5,000 for the first time, and MVR 10,000 from the second time on
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In September EC started posting the names of those who had applied to join political parties on their websites
