MP calls to amend constitution before terms of councilors lapse

Vilingili MP Ahmed Usham has said that the issues to overcome the challenges posed by amending the constitution and increasing the terms of current councilors could be faced if not done so before June 3.

The terms of the current councilors will lapse by June 3. A bill has been proposed by West Henveiru MP Hassan Latheef regarding the terms of councilors after the local council elections were pushed back by a year. This has led the Attorney General and many others to point out that the terms of councilors could not be extended without amending the constitution.

“We still have time. If we cannot extend the terms of current councilors by amending the constitution before June 3, we would face difficulties in overcoming the challenges.” Said the former Deputy Attorney General Usham.

The bill by MP Hassan Latheef calls to extend the terms of councilors until the local council elections are held and new councilors are appointed. The reason for this to avoid a void in the law if the current situation results in the inability to go forward the local council elections when the terms of current councilors lapse.

How to proceed in such a situation is not specified in the constitution, it was noted in the proposed bill.

The terms of councilors are limited to three years. With the terms of current councilors set to expire on June 3, an emptiness in the law could arise if the constitution is not amended. The AG has proposed a slight change to the constitution in order to avoid this in the form of a bill. However, the bill is yet to be on the agenda of the parliament.