President ratifies amendments to hold local council by-elections biannually

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the amendments to the Decentralization Act and Local Council Elections Act to hold by-elections for vacant local council posts biannually.

Parliament passed the amendments to the Decentralization Act and Local Council Elections Act targeted at resolving the issue of incessant by-elections as a result of increased vacancy of council member seats on August 7^th.

The law currently mandates holding the by-election within 60 days of a local council seat becoming vacant.

On the contrary, the new amendment states Local Government Authority (LGA) must notify the Elections Commission (EC) within 14 days of the local council seat becoming vacant and that the by-election to elect a new member must be held within 183 days.

EC has expressed concern on multiple occasions over the high expenses arising from elections being held so close to each other.

EC’s President Fuad Thaufeeq has previously cited merging the elections as a solution to this, such as merging the local council elections and the parliamentary elections.