Male’, Maldives — Former President of Maldives and current Speaker of the parliament, Mohamed Nasheed stated that it is very important for the local elections to be held at the earliest.
The statement from Nasheed comes after the Elections Commission confirmed yesterday that the local council elections cannot be held in March as the State of Public Health Emergency in the country has been extended till February 3rd.
As the elections were at first scheduled to be held on April 2020, the commission had to postpone the date due to the surge in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases. Later on the elections were being scheduled to be kept on March 06th until HPA declared that the State of Public Health Emergency has extended yet again.
While Nasheed is also the President of the ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), he said that it is very important for the elections to be held at the earliest even if it means having to overcome the obstructions in the law.
Earlier in 2020, the parliament passed the sunset bill that will help authorities find a solution for the legal issues that rise with the postponement of the local council elections. According to the sunset bill, elections must be held within a year of its effectiveness. This means that the local elections needs to be held before March 09th of 2021.
However, as the State of Public Health Emergency has been extended and the local council elections has been postponed for the second time, the President of Election Commission (EC), Ahmed Shareef informed today that the commission will come to a decision regarding the elections in the meeting that will be held on the upcoming Wednesday.
