The Whole House Committee of the Parliament of the Maldives has approved the constitutional amendment proposed to extend the current local councils until new councillors can be elected.
The Whole House Committee approved the amendment to Clause 231 of the constitution, which describes the process of electing councillors. The amendment was passed by the Whole House Committee with votes from 63 parliamentarians.
The committee approved the amendment after seeking the counsel of the Supreme Court of the Maldives on the matter, due to differences in opinion between parliamentarians of the ruling party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on amending the constitution during a State of Public Health Emergency. The Supreme Court stated there are no legal obstructions in amending the constitution, as the current emergency is not a State of Emergency declared by the president under Clause 253 of the constitution. The court advised to amend the constitution and add an interim clause to extend the current term of local councils.
The government proposed a constitutional amendment to extend the term of incumbent councillors, as the current term is set to expire on June 3 while the local council elections have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parliament has passed the special bill on local council elections, allowing elections to be postponed until January 2021.