Malé, Maldives – Former President and current Speaker of the Parliament of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has said that the local council elections cannot be pushed back anymore and that the Elections Comission must have the elections on the scheduled date.
Elections Commission has asked for counsel from the Parliament to postpone the local council elections, citing obstacles in ensuring equality and an independent election due to the health guidelines compiled by Health Protection Agency (HPA) making it difficult to hold the elections on 10 April 2021.
Opening the Parliamentary sitting on Monday morning, Nasheed cited a letter from the Elections Commission comparing it to excuses and complaints by a young child who refuses to do his homework. Nasheed said that the Elections Commission is making excuses to postpone the elections, stating that “EC has been assigned homework” and that “they have no choice but to comeback after completing the homework”.
Nasheed said that the elections will be held on April 10 as scheduled, and that the Parliament will not approve a postponement.
What I have to say to the EC President, … now you need to get it done. There’s no other option. The elections will be held on the date announced. We will not make any changes to that.
Soeaker Nasheed
According to the First Amendment to Special Provisions Act on Local Council Elections 2020, the EC needs to make a formal submission to the Parliament minimum 30 days to the elections deadline if the EC faces circumstances preventing them from holding the elections as scheduled. Elections Commission has stated that they will continue to make elections preparations until the Parliament makes its decision.
