EC Vice President Ismail Habeeb said that there are concerns that if the ten day delay is put in to effect, the elections may be postponed beyond the permitted duration stipulated in the Constitution.
The Elections Commission (EC) has said that the parliamentary elections must be held without a ten day delay following the end of Ramadan.
The amendment proposed to parliament by Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) states that if an election date falls within Ramadan, it must be delayed to a date ten days after Ramadan.
Speaking at a meeting of the parliament's Committee on Independent Institutions yesterday, EC Vice President Ismail Habeeb said that there are concerns that if the ten day delay is put in to effect, the elections may be postponed beyond the permitted duration stipulated in the Constitution.
Article 79(b) of the Constitution states, "Election of members to the new People’s Majlis and all matters pertaining thereto shall be concluded thirty days prior to the expiration of the existing People’s Majlis".
"When the bill says 10 days after Ramadan, that barely allows us enough time to complete this within the 30 days stipulated in the Constitution. We will be getting only 6 days for vote counting and announcement of results. We do not even get 7 days," Habeeb appealed to the committee.
He suggested that the 10 day delay be changed to reading 5 days. Habeeb said that doing so would allow for any necessary complaints to be lodged at court, or to hold elections in the instance that there is a tie between candidates.
However, MDP has asked that the duration be extended up to 15 days post-Ramadan as many Maldivians also observe the optional Sunnah 6 days of fasting post-Ramadan.
Habeeb maintained that this would only cause further complications. He said that the greater the delay, the higher the amount of work required by EC would rise. Delays would require the commission to conduct work on ensuring newly eligible voters who turn 18 years of age within this period is included in the voter list, as well as giving rise to the need for reopening of voter re-registration services.
EC's first proposition was for the parliamentary elections to be held ahead of Ramadan. This was rejected by parliament at the time as many members did not recognize the necessity of such a move.
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