Councillor cut won't reduce people's say, president says

The government is considering reducing the number of councillors in rural councils and changing the decentralisation system, but it will not reduce the participation of the people, President Mohamed Muizzu said on Sunday.

The President said this while responding to the opposition MDP's claims that the number of councillors is being reduced to undermine the power of the people.

When councils are reduced, the President said there will be three councillors instead of the existing five for islands with a population of less than 3,000.

The President said that even if the number of councillors is reduced, it will not harm the people.

"I fully believe in decentralisation. We just need to increase the efficiency of this system. There are amendments that need to be made to the law to make things more sustainable in the future," he said.

"We don't want the people's representation to be smaller in the least bit. The people's representation will be there, just a little less heavy than now, in some islands a little smaller than now”.

Regarding the reduction in the number of councillors, the President had earlier said that three members would be enough for a population of 3,000 and that many members were not needed to provide all services.

The President added:

"This is not a matter of numbers. We have to perfect providing services, we have to be sincere in providing services, we have to be honest in providing services, we have to be active. We don't need a crowd for it”.

The number of councillors was reduced in the government of former President Abdullah Yameen, but again the MDP government amended the Decentralization Act and increased the number in 2020. The amendment also increased the salaries of councillors. Thus: