Civil Service Commission (CSC) on Friday, December 23, announced that a civil servant's employment will officially conclude upon the acceptance of their election application form by the Elections Commission (EC) for the upcoming parliamentary election.
Both parliamentary and presidential elections are conducted as public elections; therefore, general election candidates are treated differently from local council election candidates.
CSC Deputy President Ibrahim Rasheed, in a statement to Mihaaru News, said that a civil servant is required to resign from the date of submitting their election candidacy to the EC. If any civil servant running for a post in a general election fails to resign as required, they would be terminated by the CSC, Ibrahim added.
However, the Civil Service Act stipulates that any civil servant contending in a public election must resign from their position six months prior to the election date.
However, after a candidate who contested in the 2009 parliamentary election filed a lawsuit seeking remedy for the issue, the court held that the statutory provision in question was in contradiction with the Constitution as it violated the right to contest for positions in public offices.
Following this, CSC had revised its regulations in accordance with the court verdict in 2022. According to the regulation, a civil servant contending for a position in a public office should resign once their candidacy form is accepted.
The CSC Deputy further highlighted that even if a civil servant does not succeed in their parliamentary election, their civil service employment would not revert. However, they would have the opportunity to apply for said civil service positions once again.
Council elections are different, and as such, the candidate running in council elections would be placed on suspension from the date of the acceptance of their candidacy form by the EC.
If the candidate is defeated in the election, they would have the opportunity to resume their employment after the final results are announced.
While the EC has not formally announced a date for the parliamentary elections, speculated to be early in 2024, political parties have already initiated their campaign efforts to rally support for their respective candidates.
The EC further stated that the advisory committee, expected to be formed this week, would make arrangements for the parliamentary election, which is anticipated to take place during the first four months of 2024.
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