The Amendment Bill to the Special Act on Local Council Elections (LCE) has been submitted to the Parliament of the Maldives.
The amendment bill was submitted by Parliamentarian Ali Niyaz, on behalf of the government. Niyaz said the bill was proposed to allow the local council elections to be held without lifting the State of Public Health Emergency declared in the Maldives. He added a request has also been submitted to Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed to conduct a special sitting outside its regular session to pass the amendment bill and to ensure the elections can be held without further delay.
Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) had been planning to conduct the delayed local council elections in the first week of March. However, following the extension of the State of Public Health Emergency until February 3, the elections can no longer be held in March within the timeframe described in the Special Act on LCE.
ECM said the legislative changes required to conduct the elections would have to be passed by the Parliament and ratified by the President before the end of January, in order to conduct the elections in April. Some of the legislative changes proposed by ECM include removing the requirement in the Special Act on Local Council Elections to hold the elections within an year, and to allow ECM to allocate a date for the elections.
ECM has also proposed an addition to Clause 2 of the Act to allow the shortening of certain durations specified for electoral procedures under special circumstances. ECM said it also wants to include a clause which grants the commission the authority to conduct the elections in adherence to the guidelines of Health Protection Agency (HPA), even if the State of Public Health Emergency is not lifted.
Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has also expressed the importance of facilitating means to conduct the local council elections as soon as possible. In a tweet, the Speaker said the elections must be held in the earliest possible timeframe, without delay. He expressed belief any legislative changes required to conduct the elections must be brought immediately in order to facilitate the elections.
The Special Act on LCE was ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in May last year, allowing the elections to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.