EC submits draft of amendments to AG’s Office, but drops political party suspension amendment

Elections Commission (EC) submitted a draft of proposed amendments to the Political Parties Act to the Attorney General’s Office on Monday, following discussions with political parties.

EC held a meeting with local political parties to discuss the proposed amendments on September 29.

Ahmed Akram, the chairman and spokesperson of EC, announced in a tweet that the commission shared a draft of the proposed amendments to the Political Parties Act with the Attorney General’s Office on Monday.

EC had originally proposed an amendment to authorize the commission to suspend political parties. The Political Parties Act at present does not allow for EC to suspend political parties. The two courses for action available to the commission to penalize political parties for violations are to either fine or revoke party registration.

EC’s chairman Ahmed Shareef said the commission submitted the draft after dropping the contentious proposed amendment for suspension of political parties. He said the commission made the decision following discussions with the political parties.

The amendment was described by the opposition political parties as an attempt to “incapacitate” dissent.

The amendments will be submitted to the Parliament after the Attorney General’s Office provides its input.