The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has said it has received 933 applications so far to contest the upcoming local council elections.
ECM opened applications for the local council election and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections on 17 January.
ECM told PSM News that 1,633 applications had been submitted within the span of a week for both elections. Of these, 933 applications were submitted for councils and 700 forms were submitted for WDCs.
Political parties have so far submitted 750 applications to contest the councils, of which 617 have been declared eligible, according to ECM. While 113 applications have been deemed ineligible, 41 have been resubmitted.
A total of 203 applications have been submitted to contest as independent candidates in the local council elections, of which 133 have been deemed eligible and 70 not. Of those who were declared ineligible, 36 have resubmitted their applications.
So far, 565 applications have been submitted by political parties for WDCs. Of these, 488 candidates are eligible, and 15 out of 77 candidates who were declared ineligible have resubmitted their applications. Of the 135 candidates who applied to contest as independent candidates, 86 have been declared eligible.