EC sets 11 February deadline for candidates to withdraw from council elections
EC members at an odds despite date being designated for Local Council and WDC elections
Candidates have until 2pm on 11 February to withdraw their names from the ballot
Elections Commission (EC) has set 11 Febraury as the deadline before which candidates contesting in the Local Council and Women's Development Committee (WDC) elections can withdraw their names from the ballot.
Over 100 candidates have already withdrawn from contesting in the Local Council and WDC elections as per the right to do so afforded to them under the Local Council Elections Special Provisions Act 2020. EC has since announced that candidates may appeal to withdraw their names from the ballot until 2pm on 11 February.
The Local Council and WDC elections, initially scheduled for 4 April 2020, were postponed in light of the state of public health emergency announced in Maldives due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The People's Majlis convened in extraordinary sessions earlier this year to pass the Local Council Special Provisions bill to postpone the elections, which require the elections to be held within one year of the ratification of the bill. Following the final amendments proposed to the Local Council Elections Special Provisions Act, the final deadline to conduct the Local Council and WDC elections is 10 May 2021. The amendments also require EC to formally alert the People's Majlis within 30 days if the commission cannot conduct the elections within the described timeframe.
EC announced April 10 as the date for the Local Council and Women's Development Committee at the EC's National Advisory Committee meeting held on Tuesday, and that work to conduct the elections would formally begin on Friday, 29 January.
Shareef added that as the Health Protection Agency (HPA) publicized a health and safety regulation for the elections, and as a date to host the voting had been selected, candidates contesting in the elections could begin campaign efforts as per HPA's directive. HPA has disallowed door-to-door campaigning in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and requires campaign teams travelling between islands to observe a mandatory 10-day quarantine. Candidates have been asked to conduct campaigns virtually in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 during various in-person campaign interactions
While the elections are set to be conducted on 10 April, voting will be held between 7am and 5pm. Votes will be counted 30 minutes after voting stations close on the same day. The official results of the Local Council and Women's Development Committee elections will be announced on Saturday, 24 April 2021.
