The Parliament on Wednesday passed a motion to seek legal counsel from the Supreme Court over the constitutional amendment to extend the term of the current local councils.
The motion was presented by Hanomaadhoo MP Abdul Gafoor Moosa who is from the ruling Maldivan Democratic Party (MDP).
While 32 votes are required to pass the motion, 61 parliamentarians voted in favour of it.
The bill seeking to extend the terms of incumbent councillors was presented to the Parliament by Bilehdhoo MP Ahmed Haleem. The government-sponsored bill proposed to extend the current term until local council elections can be held.
Although the local council elections were slated for April 4, it was postponed indefinitely due to the global pandemic COVID-19.
Maldives presently records 1,457 confirmed and 1,210 active cases of COVID-19, with five fatalities and 242 recoveries.
WHO has classified the spread of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The new strain of novel coronavirus has infected over 5.7 million people and claimed over 357,467 lives around the world. However, out of those infected, 2.4 million people have recovered.
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