The launching of projects and misuse of state companies for electoral gain remain concerns ahead of next Sunday's parliamentary elections, Transparency Maldives said on Sunday.
The inauguration and completion of projects to coincide with elections have become commonplace, Transparency Maldives said in a press statement released after its pre-election assessment. The misuse of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for electoral gain was "a particularly concerning issue," it added.
"While the law prohibits the use of state resources for personal gain, there are several loopholes," Transparency Maldives stated.
Transparency also noted the low number of women candidates and issues concerning substantive representation.
There has been no improvement in the number of women contesting in this year's elections compared to the 2009 parliamentary elections, the NGO said. Moreover, due to voting based on permanent address, a large number of people have to vote in constituencies where they do not reside.
"As voters are allocated to constituencies based on the country’s permanent address system, thousands of people vote for constituencies where they do not live normally. In other words, they do not vote for the constituencies where they normally live and may have major socio-economic and political stakes," the statement read.
The prevalence of vote buying has also been observed in this election as well, Transparency said. Voters have been asking candidates for money in exchange for their votes, it added.
"However, lack of monitoring of vote buying and weakness in speedy and successful investigation and enforcement remain key challenges," Transparency said.
