Elections Commission (EC) Vice President Ismail Habib has said that the deadline for contesting the parliamentary elections will not be extended even if the parliamentary elections are to be rescheduled to be held after Ramadan.

EC has asked candidates to file their nominations as soon as possible without waiting till the last moment. According to EC, only 18 forms have been submitted till yesterday to contest the polls.

Speaking to One today, Habib said that even if the elections are postponed as it is a time limit prescribed by law, the deadline for filing nominations cannot be extended and as per the law, 16 days will then be given to apply.

"As per the law, there are 16 days in total. The 16 days are included in this. It's important to send in application without waiting for the last minute. There might be issues with the application if it is submitted last minute, like missing out on important documentation. If the application is not submitted by 1400hrs on Wednesday, there is no way the candidates can send in applications afterwards. We follow the timeline set by the law," Habib said.

The EC has scheduled the parliamentary elections to be held on March 17, which is the seventh day of Ramadan.

However, Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau has submitted a bill to the parliament to amend the law to postpone the elections without holding the elections during Ramadan.

After the bill to amend the General Election Act was sent to the standing committee, the panel on Wednesday approved an amendment to make it mandatory for elections to be held after 10 days after the end of the fasting month.

While introducing the bill in parliament, MP Shifau said that it was introduced to address the problems that would arise as the current law is in place and this year's parliamentary elections are due to the holy month of Ramadan.

There have been concerns that if such a big election is held during Ramadan, people will face hardships and many may not come out to vote. The EC has said that the elections can be postponed after the fasting month only by amending the law.

Therefore, an amendment has been proposed under Section 43 of the Act to prevent elections from being held during fasting.

After the preliminary debate, the bill was approved by the parliament after 39 of the 51 members present in yesterday's meeting voted to be seen. The parliament approved the bill to be accepted and sent to a five-member committee for further study.

If the amendment is passed, Parliament elections will not be held during Ramadan.

The bill was opposed by the ruling PNC.