Malé, Maldives – Local Government Authority (LGA) has commenced their elections to elect members to the board.
Tue voting commenced today at 10:00 and closed by 11:00. One ballot box has been placed in every island with a city council except Addu City in which two ballot boxes have been placed. One at the City Council and one at the school adjoining Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo.
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.
PPM representatives Malé City Mayor Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and Fuvahmulah City Mayor Ismail Rafeeg are competing for the LGA from City Councils. In addition to this, PPM representative K.Atoll Council Head Mohamed Nimaal and MDP representative N.Atoll Council Head Mohamed Basheer were competing for the board from atoll councils. However, Nimaal has won the election due to delays in submitting the form from the opponents side. Basheer has now appealed this result to the High Court.
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.
