Law amended to club WDC by-elections annually
The Elections Commission will be allowed to hold all WDC by-elections on an annual basis, except in the event of quorum being lost.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Thursday ratified an amendment to the Decentralisation Act to allow by-elections to Women's Development Committees (WDCs) to be held once a year.
As the decentralisation law currently stands:
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By-election should be held within a maximum period of 60 days in case of a vacant WDC seat
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The Election Commission (EC) had earlier complained in parliament about the increase in the number of members resigning and the high cost of frequent by-elections.
Parliament had last week passed a bill submitted by MDP MP from Velidhoo constituency Mohamed Abdulla Shafeeg on behalf of the government to reduce the number of by-elections.
The amendment to the Decentralisation Act include reducing the number of WDC elections.
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Local Government Authority (LGA) should inform the EC of vacancies within 14 days
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A member should be elected to the seat falling vacant within 365 days or one year
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However, in the event of quorum loss, elections have to be held within two months
With the ratification of the amendment, the EC will be allowed to hold all WDC by-elections on an annual basis, except in the event of quorum being lost.
Addu Meedhoo MP Rozaina Adam also introduced a bill in June to amend the Law to allow WDC by-elections to be held once a year. The bill empowers the atoll council to hold these by-elections. It was under the supervision of EC, but the bill is still in the committee.
Till June, the EC had spent MVR 1.4 million to conduct by-elections for women's committees. From the state budget, the commission was allotted MVR 1.5 million for elections.
