Political parties to mull increasing Male constituencies

The Elections Commission (EC) on Thursday left the decision on increasing the constituencies in capital Male', to political parties.

While Male’ is currently divided into 13 constituencies, which means that 13 parliamentarians out of the total 85 members of parliament represent various regions of the capital, EC stated that this figure can be increased to 14 or 15.

Ahmed Akram, an EC member, stated that official letters have been sent to political parties, with a time frame until October 21 to make a decision.

The commission also held a meeting regarding the issue with several parliamentarians of Male’. Although several opposition lawmakers attended the meeting, only Moosa Manik, the deputy speaker of the parliament and Hulhuhenveiru MP, was in attendance to represent ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

The electoral watchdog is also making preparations to hold the parliamentary elections during March of the following year.