Male’ City Council By-Election Cancelled Following Amendments to Decentralisation Act
Photo credit: Elections Commission
The by-election for a vacant seat in the Male’ City Council, along with several others across the country, will no longer take place following recent amendments to the Decentralisation Act ratified yesterday by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu.
The 15th amendment to the Decentralisation Act brings major changes to the rules governing by-elections. Under the revised legislation, if the position of a council becomes vacant with 548 days or fewer remaining in the council’s term, no by-election will be held unless the number of remaining councillors is too few to meet the quorum required to hold council meetings.
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This provision directly affects the Male’ City Council, where the post of deputy mayor became vacant on 12 March 2025, following the resignation of Ahmed Nareesh. He was subsequently appointed as an Advisor at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information, and Arts – a post at ministerial level.
Under the previous rules, a by-election was required if a vacancy occurred with more than one year left in the council’s term. The current council’s term ends in April 2026. Despite the ongoing vacancy, the Elections Commission will not hold a by-election in Male’ or other affected councils due to the new legislative changes.
The Commission has yet to announce how many by-elections will be cancelled in total.
The amendment also extends to Women’s Development Committees (WDCs), stating that if a vacancy arises with 548 days or fewer remaining in a committee’s term, a replacement will only be elected if the remaining members are insufficient to form a quorum.
The amendment bill was passed during the 32nd sitting of the first session of the 2025 parliamentary term, held on Thursday, 15 May.
The government has said the changes were introduced to reduce public expenditure. However, the opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has strongly criticised the move, arguing it undermines public participation and democratic representation.
During the parliamentary debate, MDP MPs stated that avoiding by-elections would weaken the inclusiveness of the democratic process and limit the people’s ability to choose their representatives.
President Dr Muizzu has previously expressed his intention to reduce the number of local councillors as part of his broader governance reform agenda.
The Elections Commission is expected to issue a formal statement detailing which constituencies will be affected by the cancelled by-elections.
