Candidacy submission timeframe for Council Election extended

The Elections Commission (EC) has increased the daily candidacy submission timeframe for the Local Council Election.

The submission window was opened on 17th January, with a deadline of 1st February. The daily submission timeframe is from 8:30am to 3:30pm, except on Friday, with the Friday timeframe being 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

The EC stated today that they have extended that timeframe by two hours, with the daily times now being 8:30am to 5:30pm except on Friday, with the Friday timeframe being 3:30pm to 8:00pm.

The EC increased the timeframe with four days left for the submission deadline. The commission made this decision as MDP had requested the application submission extension.

MDP has said that when the EC had opened up the election process, other administrations had not made their preparations.

While they had said that they were experiencing difficulties due to the short submission timeframe, MDP had experienced their concerns yesterday. The party also said that as days can go by in confirming records and completing other tasks from state administrations, it is not a reasonable time to submit the form.

At the press conference held today regarding the aforementioned, MDP Campaign Manager Abdulla Waheed said that receiving criminal records especially from the Correctional Service and the Judicial Administration are delayed, with them not having made election preparations.

Waheed said that three to five days go by when forms are submitted to the Correctional Service and the Judicial Administration. He also said that while there are around 16 days for running for the election, the same amount of time being spent for receiving the criminal record causes great difficulties.