Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has filed the request to further delay the upcoming Local Council Elections (LCE) and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections to the Supreme Court of Maldives, after withdrawing the case from High Court.
President of ECM Ahmed Shareef stated the case was withdrawn from High Court the same day it was submitted, in order to file the case to Supreme Court. Shareef said the case was submitted to the apex court as it concerns with the country going into a constitutional crisis. He added it is important to clarify the actions to be taken in a situation where local councils cannot be elected during the time period specified in the Constitution of Maldives.
Initially, ECM postponed the elections to April 18 after the State of Public Health Emergency was declared in Maldives for a period of 30 days. However, the commission requested the court to further delay the upcoming elections as there is no certainty of when the State of Public Health Emergency will be lifted.
The constitution states elections can be delayed for two reasons, of which one reason is a health crisis. Authorities have requested the public to avoid large gatherings during this time and appealed to all organisations to cancel any activity leading to such gatherings.