Four Parties Qualify for State Funding as Adhaalath Party Falls Short

Only four political parties will receive state funding next year after meeting the legal membership requirement of 10,000 registered members, the Elections Commission of Maldives has confirmed. This represents a reduction from the five parties that qualified in the current budget cycle. The eligible parties are the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhoory Party (JP), and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA). All four exceeded the membership threshold as of November 25, when the budget was approved. Significantly, Adhaalath Party will lose its funding eligibility after receiving state funds this year. ECM data from June showed the party had only 8,844 registered members, falling short of the required minimum. Under the Political Parties Act, political entities receive 0.01 percent of the state budget annually if they maintain at least 10,000 members. While nine parties are registered in the Maldives, most cannot meet this high membership standard. The current eligibility count shows a slight improvement from June, when only three parties had officially crossed the 10,000-member mark. The latest allocation also reveals significant disparities in funding distribution, with the ruling PNC receiving the largest share due to its dominant membership of 68,665, followed by MDP with 43,765 members.