Elections Commission (EC) on Monday decided to add two more constituencies to capital Male, in the parliamentary elections slated for March 2019.
In a tweet, the electoral watchdog announced that the two additions will be made to the wards of Henveiru and Machangolhi in the capital city, adding that no other changes will be made to any electoral constituencies in the Maldives. The EC did not provide any further details.
With this development, the number of parliament seats will increase from 85 to 87 next year.
The total number of Male constituencies in the parliament currently number at 13. The constituencies of Henveiru and Machangolhi wards include Hulhuhenveiru, Henveiru Central, Henveiru North, Henveiru South, Machangolhi North and Machangolhi South. All of these seats are held by opposition lawmakers except for one.
While several individuals including parliamentarians and civilians have expressed interest and launched campaigns to contest for the seats, neither the outgoing Progressive Party of Maldives nor the opposition parties has commenced any official work to prepare for the parliamentary elections.
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