In 2017 Elections Commission (EC) announced the by-election of six constituencies over the apparent deposing of six parliamentarians of those respective areas. Since the announcement was made public, no active work was initiated and on Thursday, its marks 130 since the announcement was made.
Supreme Court had ordered parliamentarians will lose the legitimacy of representing their respective constituencies if they floor-crossed. This was move was bolstered with claim of 12 lawmakers losing their parliament seats made by EC.
Maldives Constitution mandates the electoral body to conduct by-election within 60 days of seat vacancy at parliament. However EC stated that due to insufficient funding the by-election has been postponed.
On October 24 last year, the state had injected an additional MVR 493 million as a supplementary budget to the MVR 26 billion allocated for the year, with a significant portion of it allocated for the by-elections. But Elections Commission had not initiated the by-elections even after receiving the proper financing.
Meanwhile the Secretary General of EC spoke to Avas Online on Thursday to confirm all necessary works prior to the elections were underway, however he had not disclosed any further details related to the matter.
EC announced a by-election for 12 constituencies amid mass confusion between pro-government allies and anti-government movement.
Supreme Court reiterated that the anti-defection ruling would only be effective from July 13 and would only apply to events from that date.
