News Desk
The Elections Commission has approved 2,961 candidates to contest in the upcoming Local Council and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) elections, the commission said on Saturday, marking one of the largest local‑level candidate pools in recent years.
According to the commission, 1,596 candidates will compete for local council seats, while 1,365 candidates have been cleared to run for WDC positions.
A majority of candidates filed through political parties. For the local council elections, 1,216 candidates were nominated by parties, with 380 running as independents. In the WDC races, 1,106 candidates submitted party‑backed forms, while 259 filed independently.
The commission rejected 318 applications for council seats and 219 for WDC positions. Officials said the most common reasons for disqualification included failure to submit required criminal record documents, missing debt‑related disclosures, and incomplete forms that must be processed through the Maldives Correctional Service.
With thousands of candidates vying for positions across the islands, the elections are expected to be one of the most extensive local governance exercises in the country’s recent history. The polls will determine leadership in councils and women’s committees that play a central role in community‑level administration and development.
Background: Decentralization in the Maldives
The Maldives’ decentralization project has been one of the country’s most significant governance reforms since the democratic transition of 2008. The shift aimed to move power away from Malé and give island and atoll communities greater control over local affairs after decades of highly centralized rule.
The Decentralization Act, first passed in 2010, created island councils, atoll councils and city councils, introducing elected local bodies for the first time. These councils were tasked with managing services such as waste management, land use, community development and local budgeting. The reform was intended to strengthen accountability, improve service delivery and reduce the dominance of the government in day‑to‑day administration.
Implementation, however, has been uneven. Successive governments have amended the law, sometimes expanding council powers and at other times pulling them back. Funding constraints limited technical capacity and political interference have also slowed progress. Despite these challenges, decentralization remains a core pillar of the country’s democratic framework, with local council elections serving as a key mechanism for community representation.
As Parliament now debates new changes — including proposals to merge national votes or adjust the constitutional framework — the broader question of how power is shared between Malé and the islands continues to shape the country’s political landscape.
