Council Elections lot selection delayed

Elections Commission (EC) has scheduled lot draws for Local Council Elections candidates for the 26th of this month.

Initially this was scheduled for Sunday. The Local Council Elections had been delayed twice now.

Speaking to Raajje.mv, Commission official said that lots drawing was delayed as application deadline had been extended to the 20th of this month. He added that even now candidates are submitting their applications and hence the date was extended.

The Elections, initially scheduled for January 14, was first postponed to April 4th, following Civil Court ruling in favor of PPM’s Yameen faction who had claimed that they did not have sufficient time to prepare for elections.

The Elections were postponed a second time to April 15th, as schools were not available to hold the polls. EC says that Education Ministry had requested for a delay, a claim that had not been corroborated by the Ministry.

Opposition figures have criticized the postponed Elections, claiming the Government had hampered the electoral system. They say the Government was changing the electoral system to benefit President Yameen’s PPM faction and to allow more time for the Party to recruit candidates, as they had none. The opposition figures also allege that the EC is no longer independent.