Door-to-door disallowed for elections, candidates must campaign online: HPA
HPA guideline for elections disallow door-to-door visits, campaigns must be conducted online
HPA guideline mandates online campaigns, 10-day quarantine for traveling campaign teams
The special Covid-19 safety guideline for the Local Council and Women's Development Committee elections sent to Elections Commission by the Health Protection Agency require candidates to conduct contesting in the elections to campaign online and observe a 10-day quarantine when travelling to islands.
While the Local Council Elections Special Provisions Act 2020 allows for elections to be conducted in a state of public health emergency, it also requires HPA to publicize and share with the EC a health and safety guideline for the elections. The guideline has now been prepared and forwarded to the EC, but has yet to be made available to the public.
HPA advices candidates contesting in the Local Council and WDC elections to choose online campaign tools in lieu of door-to-door campaign efforts due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and requires candidates and campaign teams traveling to islands to observe a mandatory 10-day quarantine before conducting campaigns.
The guideline stresses the importance of candidates not conducting door-to-door campaigns on islands that are under monitoring, and instructs all candidates contesting in the upcoming elections to follow the protocols set forth to conduct campaigns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at a press briefing held on Tuesday to discuss HPA's guideline, President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef said that the commission would face tremendous difficulties, including budget limitations, in order to conduct the elections as dictated by HPA.
EC had previously attempted to host the elections in March, a plan that was made obsolete when the state of public health emergency currently in place across the Maldives was extended until 3 February.
Following this, the EC's National Advisory Committee had recommended a day between 3 and 10 April to conduct elections. On January 26, the Elections Commission announced that they would be preparing to conduct the Local Council and Women's Development Committee Elections on 10 April 2021.
