EC schedules Majlis elections for first week of Ramadan

Elections Commission (EC) has announced that this year’s parliamentary elections will be held on March 17 – which falls within the month of 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 parliamentary term expires – which means the election date falls on Ramadan.

But the EC had held off finalizing a date, as it deliberated on calls to postpone the elections to after Ramadan.

In a post on X on Wednesday afternoon, the EC said the elections will be held on March 17 – which falls within the first week of Ramdan.

EC said that the commission faces major administrative challenges in holding the elections after Ramadan, as schools are set to reopen in the week after the Eid holidays, which means the commission will face challenges in getting election centers.

The EC also said that given that the last 10 days of the Ramadan have been declared public holidays, the commission would face difficulties in carrying out election-related work in collaboration with relevant state institutions.

EC had originally asked the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee to make legal amendments to push up the date for parliamentary elections to before Ramadan. However, the committee recommended postponing the election to after Ramadan.

The decision by EC to hold the elections on March 17 comes after the main opposition MDP sent a letter to the EC last week, urging the commission to hold the elections after Ramadan.

In the letter, MDP said they had been informed the commission planned on holding the elections during Ramadan, and alleged that the decision involves government influence.

The party urged the commission not to bow down to pressure from the government, and to hold the elections after the Ramadan – as recommended by the Parliament, the National Advisory Committee, as well as individual political parties, and rights watchdogs such as the ACC, HRCM, and Transparency Maldives.