Malé, Maldives – K. Guraidhoo Councillor Hussain Yameen has been elected as the island council representative on the Local Government Authority (LGA) board.
The PPM representative Yameen receive 416 votes while his strongest opponent Thoddoo Councillor Ahmed Karam followed close behind with 414 votes.
Elections Comission President Ahmed Shareef said that 7 members applied to compete in the elections for the island council representatives. This includes one independent candidate and 5 candidates from MDP. One MDP candidate wanted to withdraw their name, however the vote ballots were already printed.
In addition to this, Fuvahmulah City Mayor Ismail was elected as the City Council representative with 24 votes while his opponent, PPM representative Malé City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu received 21 votes. PPM candidate from K.Atoll council competing for the Atoll council representative on the board was elected by default as his opponent was late to submit the form.
The President reconstituded the LGA as per Article 59 (a) (2) of the Decentralisation Act (Act No. 7/2010) and appointed the Home Minister as the chairman as per the Article 140 of the Maldives’ Constitution, which mandates that a cabinet member should be responsible for overseeing bodies established by the legislature or executive (with the exception of constitutionally-mandated independent state bodies).
Following Article 64 of the Decentralisation Act, President Solih appointed Fathmath Afshan Latheef as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the LGA Board. Further, the President appointed the Minister of State for Finance, Ahmed Shareef, to the LGA board to oversee all financial matters of the authority as per Article 59 of the Decentralisation Act.
Local Government Authority (LGA) is a state institution established under the Decentralisation Act to regulate, oversee and develop the local governance system of Maldives as envisioned in the Constitution.
