Parliament passes amendment to reduce number of councillors
The amended bill was approved with 54 votes in favour and 11 votes against.
Parliament has passed the government’s amendment to the Decentralisation Act to reduce the number of councillors, following changes made at committee stage.
The amendment was submitted by PNC Parliamentary Group Leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falaah during Tuesday’s sitting. An ad hoc committee appointed to review the bill completed its work and forwarded the final version to the chamber on Thursday.
The amended bill was approved with 54 votes in favour and 11 votes against.
Under the revised provisions:
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In islands with fewer than 2,000 residents, three councillors will be elected instead of five.
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In islands with more than 2,000 residents, five councillors will be elected instead of seven.
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City councils will be elected in proportion to the number of parliamentary constituencies within the city. The 20th Parliament has 16 constituencies in Malé; therefore, nine councillors will be elected for the Malé City Council instead of seven.
When the bill was initially introduced, the proposed number of councillors for Addu City was lower. The committee has now decided to elect 11 councillors, including the mayor.
The committee also added a clause that councillors will lose their positions if they change their political party or leave their party. This follows the Anti-Defection Act passed during the 19th Parliament, which applies similar rules to elected officials.
