Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath has stated the current term of local councils cannot be extended without amending the Constitution of the Maldives.
The attorney general made the statement in a letter sent to the Parliament of the Maldives after being asked to propose amendments to the special bill on the administration of constituencies under the Decentralisation Act. In his letter, Attorney General Riffath noted the local council terms cannot be extended without amending the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states councilors must be elected in accordance with the amendments brought to the Decentralisation Act, which came into effect on December 8, 2019.
Noting a common law cannot be passed to extend the terms of local councils, the attorney general requested the parliament not to violate the procedures described in Chapter 8 of the constitution to administer a decentralised system of governance. He said the only solution is to amend the constitution as requested by the government in order to allow incumbent councilors to stay in office until new councilors can be elected.
The current term of local councils is set to expire on June 3. However, as elections cannot be held in time before the deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, local councils could face a legal vacancy if a legislative solution cannot be reached.
Meanwhile, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified the special bill on local council elections, allowing the elections to be postponed until January 2021.