EC seeks to have election day declared a public holiday

Elections Commission (EC) is seeking to have April 21 – when the parliamentary elections is scheduled to take place – as well as the next day – as a public holiday.

The parliamentary elections was originally scheduled for March 17 – which falls within the first week of Ramadan.

But an MDP-sponsored bill banning national elections in Ramadan was ratified last week.

According to the legislature, if an election date falls within Ramadan, it must be held 10 days after Ramadan ends.

EC has announced that the election will now be held on April 21 – a Sunday - instead of during the weekend – when national elections are usually held.

EC’s vice chairman Ismail Habeeb told Sun that the commission will make a formal request with the government to have April 21 and 22 declared a public holiday, before office hours end on Sunday.

The decision follows criticism over the election date, with the main opposition MDP going as far as to suggest the decision was influenced by the government.

In a rally on Friday night, MDP’s advisor, former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, accused his successor, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, of influencing the EC into holding the elections on a working day.

The next day, Fuad Thaufeeq, the chairman of EC, wrote on the social media platform X that that the election was being held on April 21 because it is “the first day we get after taking 10 days after Ramadan.”

He said that delaying it any further could risk not being able to elect the next parliamentary assembly at least one month before the term of the incumbent assembly expires, as required by law.

The MDP had submitted legislature banning elections in Ramadan citing a likely low voter turnout.

The Parliament – which MDP holds a majority in - passed the bill on February 11.

But it was rejected by the president two weeks later, on Monday, citing that some of the provisions were in contravention of the constitution, and that changing the election date would result in “loss of public confidence.”

But the same bill was passed again, with a majority vote of 47-14, on Wednesday.

A day later, the president, after initially questioning the legality of the bill, signed it into law.