Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has requested Health Protection Agency (HPA) to facilitate equal opportunities to campaign for all the candidates contesting in the upcoming Local Council Elections (LCE) and Women’s Development Committee Elections (WDCE).
In a letter addressed to Director General of Public Health Maimoona Aboobakuru, ECM said the Elections Complaints Bureau has received numerous complaints regarding the lack of equal opportunities to campaign for the election. As such, ECM said the commission has noticed there are inconsistencies in granting permission to travel amid the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. Noting senior officials of the government and state-owned enterprises have been using corporate travels as a mode to campaign for pro-government candidates, ECM said candidates from opposition parties do not have the same kind of opportunities to campaign for the election.
ECM said all candidates have an equal right to campaign for the elections, as per the law. Therefore, ECM requested HPA to formulate a special guideline for candidates travelling to their constituencies for the campaign, in order to ensure all candidates have an equal opportunity to campaign.
LCE and WDCE are scheduled to be held on April 10. A total of 3,934 candidates are contesting in the elections.