Amendment seeks to hold council by-elections twice
The amendments will come into force from the date of passage of both bills and publication in the Government Gazette.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
The government on Monday moved a proposal in parliament to amend the law to allow by-elections to local bodies to be held twice a year instead of being held in close proximity.
Current law requires a council by-election to be held within two months of a vacancy. Therefore, many by-elections require it to be held close to one another.
The first reading of the two bills, which proposed separate amendments to the Decentralization Act and the Council Election Act, was heard in Parliament on Monday.
The bill to amend the Decentralization Act, moved by PNC MP Ismail Shafeeu on behalf of the government, states as the reason for the amendment:
-
Elections must be held within two months of a councillor's vacancy, resulting in a large number of repeated by-elections due to the increase in vacancies during the life of councils
-
This increases the costs involved
To reduce the costs, the bill requires elections to be held within a maximum of 183 days or six months after a council seat becomes vacant.
However, the bill provides for elections to be held within a maximum of two months in the event of absence of the legal number of members in a local council.
The amendment will allow the Election Commission to hold by-elections twice a year.
The bill, which is related to the amendment to the Decentralization Act, was moved by PNC MP for Kaashidhoo constituency Munthazim Ibrahim, on behalf of the government.
In addition to harmonising the dates in the decentralisation bill, the bill also includes a minimum period between two by-elections. The minimum period between two by-elections is 120 days or four months.
With the amendment, one by-election will be followed by another by-election at the earliest, four months after.
As per the existing law, elections are not required to be held if a councillor has one year left in his term. A councillor elected through a by-election can hold the post for the remaining term of the council. These are also mentioned in these amendments.
The amendments will come into force from the date of passage of both bills and publication in the Government Gazette.
In the last 19th Parliament, the law was amended to hold by-elections for women's committees once a year in response to the increasing number of by-elections.
