Former President Abdulla Yameen’s newly formed party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), has handed over 4,000 membership applications to the Elections Commission (EC).

A new political party would need to acquire at least 3,000 members within a three-month window dictated by EC before it can hold its inaugural assembly.

EC stated that it will grant PNC permission to hold its inaugural assembly after verifying the membership applications.

Earlier, senior PNC members claimed that they had obtained 8,000 membership applications.

While Yameen’s closes allies have signed into PNC, including former economic minister Mohamed Saeed and former defence minister Adam Shareef, it has not been confirmed whether Yameen himself has joined the party.