The Elections Commission (EC), on Monday, revealed its decision to delay the local council election due to safety concerns resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlighting that citizens were accorded the right to cast ballots in a safe environment, EC stated that an election could not be safely conducted on April 18 considering the current situation.
The government recently extended the state of public health emergency declared on March 12 until April 30.
According to EC, the polls would be scheduled after the government announces that an election would not pose a public health risk.
The state has submitted a sunset bill to the Parliament to postpone the local council elections.
EC first submitted the proposal to postpone the local council elections at the High Court. After filing the case at Supreme Court, it was withdrawn as the issue required a legal solution through the Parliament.
Maldives now has 20 confirmed and six active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 14 recoveries.
The World Health Organization has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus has infected over 1.86 million people and claimed over 114,900 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, more than 431,500 people have recovered.
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