Controversy arises in Addu City over EC's failure to rotate reserved seats for women

A major controversy has erupted in Addu City because the Elections Commission (EC) has once again failed to rotate the constituency reserved for women in the Addu City Council, despite the Decentralization Act requiring rotation of the 33 percent of seats allocated to women in local councils.

The law mandates that the constituencies reserved for women in City Councils must be rotated in subsequent elections, yet the EC has not changed the seat reserved for Addu City Council for the upcoming election.

In response to the EC's decision, members of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) in Addu City have started signing a petition calling for the decision to be changed.

Additionally, Ahmed Azan Marzooq, Member of Parliament for the Central Hithadhoo constituency, has sent a letter to the EC regarding the issue.

The PNC petition notes that by not rotating the reserved seat as per the law, the Hithadhoo Beyrumathi constituency has been reserved for women again this time. The petition argues that this means men in that constituency will be deprived of the right to contest for a period of 10 years, and it calls upon the EC to change the decision.

MP Azan Marzooq's letter to the EC states that the decision not to rotate the women's seat is a violation of the established legal principle. He also submitted a schedule to the EC detailing how the rotation should take place and requested the EC to clarify the reason behind their decision.

The amendment to the Decentralization Act, passed by the 19th Parliament to reserve 33 percent of local council seats for women, specified a particular process for reserving seats in the first election and subsequent elections. The law requires that after the first election held under that amendment, the constituencies reserved for women must be rotated.

However, a subsequent amendment to the Decentralization Act by the 20th Parliament reiterated that the constituencies reserved for women in elections held under the most recently passed law must be rotated.

Despite these legal provisions, the EC has maintained the reservation of the same constituency for women in Addu City Council, sparking the current dispute.