President of the Election Commission of Maldives (ECM) Fuad Thaufeeq has highlighted the importance of amending the constitution to hold bi-elections of the local councils once a year. He made the remarks while speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions.
Speaking at the committee, President of ECM noted that the previous parliament was also requested to amend the constitution to hold the bi-elections of the Women's Development Committee (WDC) and that of local councils once a year. However, amendments were only made to hold the WDC bi-elections once a year.
Highlighting that while over 20 bi-elections are held every year, Fuad raised concern over the expenses incurred to hold the bi-elections. He noted that if all the bi-elections are held once, the administrative expenses will reduce significantly. In the event of a vacancy in a council member's seat, the opportunity must be opened to individuals interested to run in the bi-election of the council. The opportunity must be opened within a period of maximum 15 days, from the date of vacancy, according to the Local Council Elections Act.
Following ECM has requested to bring amendments to the law to hold bi-elections once a year, the government has decided to amend the constitution to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections together. However, the decision will be finalised and implemented after a referendum.