President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Tuesday revealed that Hdh. Kulhudhuffushi will be designated as a city starting January 1st, 2020.
With the change, Kulhudhuffushi will become the fourth city of Maldives and the first northern city of the archipelago.
As per the Decentralization Act, a council will be declared as a city if the population of constituents in the jurisdiction of the council exceeds 10,000. The population of Kulhuduffushi reached 10,000 during November 2018.
However, the law stipulates that a council will be formally declared a city only when the president of the country announces the change. Therefore, the Elections Commission recently made the decision to consider Kulhudhuffushi as an island and elect an island council in the upcoming local council election as the president had not formally declared Kulhuduffushi as a city. Many residents of the island had expressed their concern due to the move.
However, in a tweet published on Tuesday, President Solih said Kulhuduffushi will be given the status of a city starting January 1st under the Decentralization Act.
Recent amendments to the Decentralization Act states that a city council of seven members will be elected to cities with a population between 10,000-30,000. This includes the mayor of the city elected by all citizens registered at the island, and six councillors elected from six parts of the city.
Following the president's announcement, the Elections Commission has revealed that the commission will be designating the six constituencies of the city at the earliest.
