First task for new government is to ensure autonomy of councils: Nasheed

The first task at hand for the ‘unity’ government to be formed by president-elect Ibrahim Solih and his coalition partners should be to ensure autonomy for local government councils, says former president Mohamed Nasheed.

Nasheed said that local government councils, which comprises of island and atoll councils, should have the autonomy to decide on key matters in their jurisdiction, highlighting that this is the spirit of the landmark Decentralization Act passed during his time in office.

The former president further said that ‘no other entity or party’ knows the situation of a particular island or atoll better than its respective councils and the members elected to them by residents.

Nasheed said this in Hulhudhoo island of Addu City, in a meeting with residents there. The southernmost atoll was Nasheed’s first stop out of the capital city since his return to the Maldives after years of living in exile.

At the moment, councils have less control over their resources and services than they had when the act was passed in 2010, with amendments to the act transferring authority to ministries.

These amendments, together with the administration’s restructuring of the Local Government Authority, the statutory regulator to island councils, have been described by critics as an attempt to tighten grips on power.

In mid-2014, the Housing Ministry’s appropriation of lands and property that were constitutionally under the authority of the Malé City Council was described by deputy mayor Shifa Mohamed as an attempt to destroy decentralization and ‘rob ordinary citizens of their power’.