Holding council polls on Saturday will be decided tomorrow: EC chief

President of the Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq has said that the commission will tomorrow announce a decision whether the Local Council Election (LCE) will be conducted on Saturday, 18 January.

Speaking to Sun tonight, Fuad said that Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidates and some individual candidates have refused to endorsed certain voters' lists and that a decision on holding the election without endorsements will be finalized at a meeting tomorrow.

“It will be discussed and finalized at an official meeting of the commission tomorrow,” said the EC chief.

PPM has claimed they were not allowed enough time to check 16 voters' lists, which they have refused to sign. The lists cannot be endorsed without proper verification, the party said.

Fuad has denied media reports that the commission has decided to conduct polls for constituencies for which the voters' lists have been endorsed. He said today that the commission still intends to continue with election for all constituencies on Saturday. The decision remains unchanged, Fuad said.