Malé Mayor Condemns Amendment to Decentralisation Law
Mayor Azim criticised provisions allowing the government to reclaim municipal land for national infrastructure projects. | Photo: Adam Azim
Malé City Mayor Adam Azim has strongly condemned the government’s amendments to the Decentralisation Act, warning that the legislative changes undermine public empowerment and strip power from democratically elected local councils.
His remarks follow President Mohamed Muizzu’s formal ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Decentralisation Act (Act No. 7/2010), which entered into force after its publication in the Government Gazette yesterday. The People’s Majlis passed the legislation during its 20th session last week, introducing rules that require local councils to cooperate with the central administration on state development projects.
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Posting on social media, Mayor Azim expressed sharp criticism over the provisions that allow the central government to reclaim municipal land for national infrastructure initiatives.
“Ratifying and implementing the amendment to the Decentralisation Act, which allows land and places within the jurisdiction of island and city councils to be removed from their authority and taken over by the government under the guise of development projects, is a decision completely contrary to the principles of empowering the public,” Azim stated.
He added: “I condemn this in the strongest possible terms, as it is a very dangerous step taken to dismantle the decentralisation system and strip away the powers of the councils elected by the people.”
As per the press release by the President’s Office, under this framework, central government authorities must follow statutory protocols before altering or removing territory currently governed by local councils. The government emphasises that these measures streamline administrative operations, improve project timelines, and establish clearer rules for allocating state land. They elaborate that the law also permits the central administration to set up integrated service hubs within administrative areas to deliver services directly to local residents.
According to the President’s Office, under the amendment, public assets and resources originally managed by atoll councils—which a previous amendment had assigned to the Local Government Authority—will now fall directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
