Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has raised concerns over the rising expenditure on by-elections of Women’s Development Committees (WDCs).
Speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions, ECM President Fuad Thaufeeq revealed the frequent resignation of WDC members has resulted in too many by-elections that are draining the budget provided to the commission. In this regard, Fuad noted 21 by-elections have been held for WDCs since the initial elections held in April last year. He said these by-elections have cost over USD155,000.
Speaking further, Fuad noted about 3-4 WDC seats are vacated every month, with each by-election costing nearly USD10,000. Fuad said this is a heavy burden on the already constrained budget of ECM, noting the commission is forced to spend its administrative budget for the by-elections. He said failure to provide a solution to the need for frequent by-elections would result in ECM spending out its whole budget for the year by July.
Speaking at the committee, Vice President of ECM Ismail Habeeb said the commission is working with the relevant authorities to work out a legal solution for the matter. As such, Habeeb said ECM has requested the Attorney General to bring the necessary legislative amendments to ensure by-elections are only held twice an year.
Due to the frequent resignation of WDC members and the lack of interest in contesting for the positions, the government raised the salaries of WDC members in January this year. However, the problem has still not been resolved.