MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has called for the ratification of an amendment to the General Elections Act, which requires the elections to be held 10 days after the end of the fasting month.

In a post on X, Fayyaz said elections should be held keeping in mind that people's participation will increase.

"When elections are held during Ramadan, it imposes restrictions on citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote. The bill passed to postpone the elections should be ratified immediately," Fayyaz said.

On February 11, the Parliament passed a bill to amend the General Election Act to require elections to be held 10 days after the end of the fasting month.

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

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

He expressed concern that if such a massive election is held during the fasting month, people will face hardships and many people will not come out to vote. The EC has said that the elections can only be postponed after the fasting month by amending the law.

Therefore, section 43 of the Act has been amended to prevent elections from being held during fasting.

Clause (a) says that in an election, the date of voting, the time of voting and as a general rule, the time of completion of the vote and the time at which the counting of votes will be conducted and the time at which the counting of votes will be announced.

While the bill seeks to add two clauses to its back, the amendment, which states that elections shall not be held on the day of Ramadan, even if otherwise specified in this Act or any other law, and that if the date of election coincides with the day of Ramadan, it shall be held 10 days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

The amendment added to clause (c) states, "In the event of a situation in which the period specified in sub-section (b) is not applicable under the special law relating to such elections or under this Act, the Election Commission shall re-fix the periods for holding the elections in accordance with the provisions of this section."

According to the bill, elections shall not be held without giving 30 days to the candidates to seek support between the date of declaration of candidature by the Election Commission and the date of publication of the numbers of the candidates.

The bill has raised the earlier provision of penalty for violators to over MVR 200,000.

The bill was opposed by the ruling PNC.