Parliament of the Maldives has scheduled an extraordinary sitting to conduct proceedings on the proposed Amendment Bill to the Special Act on Local Council Elections.
The amendment bill was proposed by Parliamentarian Ali Niyaz, on behalf of the government, to allow the local council elections to be held despite the extension of the State of Public Health Emergency in the Maldives. The parliament is currently in recess, but has announced it would be conducting a sitting outside its regular sessions to conduct proceedings on the bill. In this regard, the Parliament has decided to conduct an extraordinary sitting on January 13.
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 Local Council Elections. 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.
The Special Act on Local Council Elections 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.