Chair of the Decentralisation Committee of the Parliament Ali Niyaz has stated the government needs to cooperate with the Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) to meet the deadline set to conduct the Local Council Elections (LCE).
Noting ECM has decided to conduct the elections on March 6 next year, Niyaz said it is the government’s responsibility to provide the necessary support and cooperation to ECM to conduct the elections by the set date, in order to implement the amended Decentralisation Act. However, Niyaz said ECM has not been receiving enough support and cooperation from the government in the preparations to conduct the elections. He noted the country will suffer more losses if the elections are postponed any further and the transfer of powers to local councils is delayed.
The local council elections were initially scheduled to be held on April 4, 2020. However, following the declaration of the State of Health Emergency in the Maldives on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the elections were postponed indefinitely.
The Special Act on Local Council Elections was ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in May, allowing the elections to be postponed until the COVID-19 outbreak is controlled. The Act states the elections can only be held after health authorities lift the State of Health Emergency and guarantee there is no risk in conducting the elections.
Meanwhile, 49 candidates who applied to contest in the local council elections have withdrawn their candidacy since the election was postponed. As such, 16 candidates from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), 7 candidates from Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), 6 candidates from Jumhooree Party (JP) and 20 independent candidates have withdrawn their candidacy.