Parliamentary elections to be held on 21 April

The Election Commission (EC) has decided to hold the parliamentary elections on April 21.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the bill passed by the Parliament to hold the parliamentary elections after the fasting month of Ramadan. The EC held a meeting this evening after the President ratified the bill.

Election date was decided during the meeting.

Prior to this, the Parliament had passed a bill to postpone the parliament elections originally scheduled to be held on 17 March. However, President Dr. Muizzu returned the bill to the Parliament without ratifying it, citing amendments needed to be brought according to constitution.

The Parliament on Wednesday passed the bill for a second time to postpone the election. President Dr. Muizzu ratified the bill on Thursday.

During the EC meeting on Thursday night, EC Vice President Ismail Habib stated that scheduling the elections for 21 April would give 560 first-time voters the opportunity to case their votes in the Parliamentary elections.