The Local Council Election may be held on March 6, 2021, Maldives’ Election Commission has announced.
The council election and the women’s development committee election were originally scheduled to be held during April this year, but were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parliament resolved the legal vacuums and issues that arose due to the delay, and made the required arrangements to delay the election upto an year.
Speaking on local TV channel, RaajjeTV on Tuesday, Commissioner of Elections, Ahmed Shareef Adam said the commission is working to hold the election on March 6, 2021. However, the date has not been finalized thus far, said the commissioner.
Shareef said the administrative and legal work related to the election is currently ongoing, and revealed that the commission hopes to wrap up the election by the holy month of Ramadan. Candidates will be given the duration specified in the law to campaign for the election, and the date on which the election is held will have no effect on that, assured Shareef.
The proposed state budget for 2021 has allocated a budget of MVR 49.18 million for the local council election, a higher figure compared to the budget allocated for the election in this year’s budget. MVR 17.6 million was allocated for the election scheduled for last April.
980 councillors will be elected to island, atoll and city council in the upcoming election. While over 2,400 candidates are contesting in the election, some have withdrawn their names from the race.
