{"id":16076,"date":"2025-05-20T02:24:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T21:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16076"},"modified":"2025-05-20T02:40:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T21:40:37","slug":"president-muizzu-ratifies-amendment-to-decentralisation-act-to-curb-by-election-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16076","title":{"rendered":"President Muizzu Ratifies Amendment to Decentralisation Act to Curb By-Election Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\" data-start=\"91\" data-end=\"368\">President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to Act No. 7\/2010 (Decentralisation Act), introducing key legislative changes aimed at reducing the financial burden caused by frequent mid-term by-elections in local councils.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"370\" data-end=\"717\">The amendment addresses the rising number of council vacancies that have triggered repeated by-elections, placing a strain on public resources. The newly ratified law introduces specific conditions under which by-elections will be avoided, allowing for more cost-effective governance while ensuring local councils and committees remain functional.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"719\" data-end=\"765\">Key reforms outlined in the Amendment include:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"767\" data-end=\"1345\">\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"767\" data-end=\"1048\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"769\" data-end=\"1048\"><strong data-start=\"769\" data-end=\"802\">Council Chairperson Vacancies<\/strong>: If a chairperson\u2019s position becomes vacant with <strong data-start=\"852\" data-end=\"883\">548 days or fewer remaining<\/strong> in the council\u2019s term, <strong data-start=\"907\" data-end=\"938\">no by-election will be held<\/strong>\u2014unless the number of remaining council members is too low to meet the quorum required for convening meetings.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"\" data-start=\"1052\" data-end=\"1345\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1054\" data-end=\"1345\"><strong data-start=\"1054\" data-end=\"1103\">Women\u2019s Development Committee (WDC) Vacancies<\/strong>: Similarly, if a WDC member\u2019s position becomes vacant within <strong data-start=\"1165\" data-end=\"1208\">548 days of the committee&#8217;s term ending<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"1210\" data-end=\"1244\">no replacement will be elected<\/strong> unless the number of remaining members is insufficient to meet the quorum required to hold meetings.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1347\" data-end=\"1633\">The bill was passed by the People\u2019s Majlis during its 32nd sitting of the first session of the 2025 parliamentary term, held on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Following the President\u2019s ratification, the Amendment has been published in the Government Gazette and has now come into legal effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1635\" data-end=\"1812\">This legislative update reflects the government\u2019s ongoing efforts to streamline administrative processes and ensure fiscal responsibility in the decentralised governance system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to Act No. 7\/2010 (Decentralisation Act), introducing key legislative changes aimed at reducing the financial burden caused by frequent mid-term by-elections in local councils. The amendment addresses the rising number of council vacancies that have triggered repeated by-elections, placing a strain on public resources. The newly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2981,2464,2994,2507],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-government","8":"category-local-news","9":"category-national-news","10":"category-top-stories-featured-area"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>President Muizzu Ratifies Amendment to Decentralisation Act to Curb By-Election Costs - Maldives Business Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mbt.mv\/?p=16076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Muizzu Ratifies Amendment to Decentralisation Act to Curb By-Election Costs - Maldives Business Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to Act No. 7\/2010 (Decentralisation Act), introducing key legislative changes aimed at reducing the financial burden caused by frequent mid-term by-elections in local councils. The amendment addresses the rising number of council vacancies that have triggered repeated by-elections, placing a strain on public resources. 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