Civil Court Upholds Order to Pause Dissolution of MRM

The Civil Court of the Maldives has maintained its order to temporarily suspend the process of dissolving the Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), following a decision made by the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM).

The ECM had opted to dissolve the MRM after the party failed to meet the membership requirement within the specified three-month deadline, despite receiving a second notice from the electoral body. According to regulations, a political party must have a minimum of 3,000 members to be registered, but as of February 21, MRM reported having only 2,981 members.

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In response to the ECM’s decision, the Civil Court directed the electoral body to pause the process of dissolving the MRM for a period of 30 days. This ruling was prompted by MRM’s declaration that it intended to appeal the decision within that timeframe. 

ECM subsequently sought a review of the order, arguing that it had been issued without the presence of the electoral body and relied solely on the documents provided by MRM. However, the Civil Court stated that the ECM had not presented sufficient evidence to substantiate its claim that MRM had withheld any crucial documents.

The founder of MRM, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and the current President of MRM, Ahmed Faris Maumoon, have criticized the decision to dissolve the party. MRM was established in November 2019.