President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified the special bill on local council elections, allowing the elections to be postponed until January 2021.
The Parliament of the Maldives passed the special bill on local council elections on April 29, with votes from 63 parliamentarians. Following ratification, the bill has now been published in the government gazette.
The local council elections were initially scheduled to be held on April 4. However, following the declaration of State of Health Emergency in the Maldives on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the elections were first postponed to April 18, which was the latest date to hold the elections according to the law. Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) later made the decision to postpone the elections indefinitely, as COVID-19 continued to spread locally in the country.
The special bill on local council elections was submitted to the parliament by the government to allow the elections to be postponed until January 2021. The bill states the elections must be held before January 6, 2021, and those elections can only be held after health authorities lift the State of Health Emergency and confirm there is no risk in conducting the elections. The bill also states the election date must be announced by ECM within 7 days after health authorities issue the green light to conduct elections.
Furthermore, the bill states the candidates' list for the elections can no longer be altered. The bill has also lifted the suspension of civil servants contesting in the elections, who were suspended 30 days before the original date of elections. The suspended civil servants are to be restored to their original positions, although they are not allowed to conduct any campaigns before they are suspended again 30 days before the new date of elections.