Parliament accepts special bill seeking to prolong terms of councilors

The People’s Majlis has accepted the bill seeking to allow the current councilors to retain positions until the Local Council elections are held and new officials take oath.

53 members present at the online parliament sitting on Monday, voted in favor of the bill while six members voted against. The six members who voted against passing to accept the bill are Maavashu MP Mohamed Saeed, Guraidhoo MP Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, Nilandhoo MP Abdul Muhsin Hameed as well as the MP for Nolhivaram constituency.

Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef abstained from voting.

The "special bill to ensure decentralized administrative divisions" sponsored by MP for west-Henveiru contituency Hassan Latheef was presented at Monday’s siting by MP Latheef as well.

This bill describes the protocol to be followed until new officials can take office and notes that the current council terms are set to expire on June 3rd and will result in vacant seats. The bill highlights Article 230 of the constitution that mandates "all administrative divisions of the Maldives administration be decentralized" and Article 231 which states that "all members of councils created for decentralized administration shall be democratically elected by secret ballot by their respective communities".

It allows the current council officials to retain positions until an election is held and new officials take office. According to the bill, incumbent officials have full authority, as granted by the constitution, to make decisions and will be held accountable for said decisions during this period.

The bill will come into effect once ratified and published in the state gazette and will be annulled once new officials take office.

The first bill was sponsored by Bilehdhoo MP Ahmed Haleem and aims to modify the Fifth Amendment to the Maldives Constitution.

On April 29, Majlis passed the special motion, the Sunset Bill regarding the Local Council Elections, which stated that voting should be held by January 6, 2021, with the amendments proposed after the evaluation process by the Committee on Independent Institutions.

On April 13, ECM delayed both elections indefinitely at a time fears of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, sweeping across the globe at a fast-rate have been increasing in the Maldives.

EC announced the decision to delay the elections on 12 March, the same day the State of Public Health Emergency was declared. Elections were initially scheduled for 4 April, however, it was delayed until 18 April amid Covid-19 fears.