Over 3,400 Individuals Seek Seats in Local Elections Scheduled for April

Over 3,400 individuals have applied to contest the upcoming local council and women’s development committee elections scheduled for 4 April, the Election Commission of Maldives (ECM) has reported.

Statistics released by the commission show that 1,865 candidates have applied for council seats, while 1,548 have submitted applications for positions in women’s development committees, bringing the total number of applicants to 3,413.

Most candidates are contesting on behalf of political parties. For council seats, 1,366 candidates are party-affiliated and 499 are independents. In women’s development committees, 1,216 candidates represent political parties and 332 are independents.

Of the council applications, 1,556 have been accepted, including 1,197 from political parties and 359 from independent candidates. A total of 309 applications were initially rejected, but 286 have since been resubmitted.

For women’s development committees, 1,332 applications have been accepted, comprising 1,091 from party-affiliated candidates and 241 from independents. Of the 216 initially rejected applications, 192 have been resubmitted.

Some nominations were rejected due to missing criminal and debt records, or incomplete documentation from the corrections department.

The deadline for submitting nominations is 15:30 on Sunday, 7 February. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has requested a 10‑day extension, citing delays in obtaining criminal record clearances for its candidates.

In response, the Election Commission has extended the submission window, allowing nominations to be submitted daily until 17:30 from Thursday through Sunday. According to the MDP, more than 50 of its members are still awaiting clearance of their criminal records from relevant authorities.