Civil Court Deems ECM’s Dissolution of MRM Unlawful

The Civil Court has issued a ruling declaring the decision of the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) to dissolve the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) as unlawful.

Founded by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in November 2019, MRM is led by his son, Ahmed Faris Maumoon.

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In May 2023, ECM announced that MRM had failed to meet the requirement of 3000 registered members within the specified timeframe, leading to the decision to dissolve the party.

In a judgement delivered yesterday, Civil Court Judge Mohamed Easa Fulhu determined that ECM’s notification of the party’s dissolution was not in compliance with the Political Parties Act.

“The ECM’s failure to fulfil its obligation to issue notices every six months to verify the number of members, as stipulated by the aforementioned article, absolves MRM of any legal responsibility for resulting losses,” the ruling stated.

The notice sent to MRM in February, requesting an increase in membership to 3000, cited the party’s membership at 2981 at the time. MRM made efforts to boost its membership based on this figure.

However, the ruling highlighted that the notice did not acknowledge the existence of certain unprocessed forms at the time and noted alterations to the membership list during the notice period.

Moreover, the ruling criticised unacceptable delays in processing some forms, concluding that ECM’s decision contravened Article 43 of the Constitution.

As a result, the Civil Court rescinded ECM’s letter informing MRM of its dissolution and nullified all subsequent decisions on the matter.

Additionally, ECM has been instructed to compensate MRM with MVR 50,000 within a seven-day period.

Following the dissolution of the party last year, MRM’s leader, Ahmed Faris Maumoon, contested the recent presidential election as an independent candidate.