The Prosecutor General (PG) office has rejected the case against parliamentary candidates who failed to submit their financial statements.

A PG official told RaajjeMV that the Elections Commission (ECM) needed to conduct further investigations before filing their report.

ECM member Ahmed Akram said that they will re-submit the case after fixing the issues highlighted by the PG office.

RaajjeMV understands that the PG office requested ECM to take statements of the candidates.

39 of the 386 candidates in the last parliamentary election failed to submit their financial statements within the deadline. None of them had been elected, reports ECM.

31 of the candidates were independents, two were from Progressive Party of Maldives, two from Maldives Labour and Social Democratic party, two from Maldivian Third-Way Democrats, one from People's National Congress, and one from Adhaalath Party.

Article 73(a) of the General Elections Act states that a candidate’s financial statement should be submitted to the Elections Commission within 30 days from the date of the election.

Candidates who fail to submit their financial statements within the deadline face prison sentences between six months to two years or a fine ranging between MVR 6,000 and MVR 24,000.