Committee recommends holding parliamentary election after Ramadan

The Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has voted in favor of recommending that the 2024 parliamentary elections are postponed to after Ramadan.

Last week, the Elections Commission (EC) proposed that the Parliament make legal amendments to push up the election date to before Ramadan.

The Independent Institutions Committee convened for a meeting to discuss the upcoming election on Sunday.

During the meeting, Baarah MP Ahmed Abdulla proposed recommending to the EC to have the election postponed to after Ramadan, and to have all election-related affairs done by April 28.

The proposal was seconded by Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim.

It passed with the unanimous consensus of the committee.

The committee’s chair, Addu Meedhoo MP Rozaina Adam announced that the committee will send a letter to the EC recommending for the parliamentary elections to be held as soon as possible after Ramadan.

The term of the current parliamentary assembly expires on May 28.

The law dictates that the EC must initiate the process of holding the elections 120 days before the current parliamentary term expires.

This means next year’s elections must be held on March 19 – which falls within the holy month of Ramadan.