The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has announced that over 900 councilors will be elected through the Local Council Elections set to be held in the upcoming year.

The commission revealed that 895 members will be elected to the committees on women’s development throughout islands this time and that 980 members will be elected to councils overall. 34 women will be elected to the committees on women’s development in cities.

Details publicized by the ECM reveal that 372 women will be elected as councilors to islands, 12 to city councils, 372 will be elected as councilors both women and men, overall and 179 council presidents will be elected. The total amount of local councils is 923.

There is a total of 18 atoll councils and 24 city councilors will be elected along with the election of three mayors.

While the Local Council Elections are scheduled to be held on 4 April, candidates have begun campaigning via social media, with main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) having announced its decision to hold primaries.

The People’s Majlis had brought recent amendments to the Decentralization Act which states that seven councilors will be elected to all islands with a population of over 3,000 and that every five-member council will have two female councilors and every seven-member council will have three female councilors.

Earlier on Tuesday, Elections Commissioner Ahmed Shareef revealed that constituencies for the elections will be announced within the last week of December 2019. The commission will give a period of two months for political parties to hold their primaries.