Mayor: No benefits from a referendum on Addu Council; an obstruction to development

Addu City’s Mayor Ali Nizar, on Saturday night, described a referendum on the composition of Addu City Council as a decision that would “cast a dark shadow” on the city's development.

Last Wednesday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu revealed plans to hold a referendum on whether each island should elect its own Council or whether the existing Addu City Council would continue to administer all islands, as is currently the case.

Referring to this, Mayor Nizar stated that there is no need to hold a referendum on the composition of the Addu City Council, citing that it would have no benefits.

The Mayor criticized the current administration for neglecting Addu City's development and warned that the proposed referendum would only “cast a dark shadow’ on the development of the city.

“I am already disheartened with the current situation, and this [the referendum] would be something that casts a dark shadow on Addu City’s development. This should not be supported at all,” he said.

Mayor Nizar took Hulhumeedhoo as an example when detailing reasons why each island of the city should not have its own council. In this regard, he detailed that Hulhumeedhoo currently receives a maximum of MVR 11 million in block grant, with around half a million allocated for salaries and another seven to eight hundred thousand spent on administrative expenses.

“If an island council is appointed to the island, what will there be left after deducting the salaries of five councilors and WDC [members]. Even at present, not even MVR 50,000 is generated as income,” he added.

The Mayor said the block grant would be higher if the island remains under a city council, with a majority of the funds being saved.

He further said even if other island councils are currently operating under the city council, in his capacity as the mayor, he does not micromanage the administrative operations of Maradhoo, Maradhoofeydhoo and Feydhoo. In this regard, he added that the councilors representing the island will have full authority to manage their respective island offices.

According to President Muizzu, the referendum on the composition of Addu City Council will be the first held under the newly ratified Referendum Act.

The legislature, ratified last Tuesday, defines the circumstances under which public referendums can be held, as well as to specify the responsibilities of the relevant authorities, including the Elections Commission (EC).

Public referendums can be held to determine the following under the bill.

• Issues concerning the interest of the public
• National issues
• Amending fundamental rights and freedoms granted by the constitution
• Changes to the parliamentary term
• Changes to the presidential term
• How the president is elected
• Ratification of a bill by the president under circumstances where the president has not ratified a bill
• Changes to Maldives’ territory