EC has arranged council election candidacy order

Elections Commission has on Thursday drawn lots to set the order of candidates for the upcoming local council elections, slated for April 15th.

While the lots for candidates contesting for Malé City council were drawn at the Elections Commission’s head office, lots for candidates competing for seats in atolls were drawn in their respective island offices.

The Commission had preponed its deadline for voter reregistration and closed its mobile station, which distributed reregistration forms.

The elections, initially scheduled for January 14th, was delayed after the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’s (PPM) faction led by President Abdulla Yameen pursued a case at the civil court on the grounds that they had lost their membership database, though the deadline to submit candidates was December 1st.

The court had ruled in favour of the party and ordered that the elections be held on a date that allows PPM’s candidates adequate time to campaign and prepare for the ballots. This verdict is in line with another clause in the Local Council Elections Act which states that candidates must have a period of at least 28 days to contest the elections.

The verdict resulted in the election’s postponement to April 8th, however the Elections Commission delayed it further over the unavailability of schools to place ballot boxes in.