Dissecting decentralisation: how island councils are about to change

This is the seventh amendment to the act since Muizzu took office, but perhaps the most significant. Some councils will grow, others will shrink and some will disappear altogether to be replaced with a more muscular Local Government Association (LGA). Supporters say the procedure will deflate a bloated system but others argue the Maldives’ 15-year experiment with decentralised governance will be left on life support. 

We break down what the new changes are, what they mean and how they will change political life in over 186 islands.

The most significant development is the abolishment of atoll councils, which currently consist of an elected atoll council president and presidents from all island councils (and mayors) within that administrative atoll. 

The size of island councils and city councils are also set to drastically change. Islands with a population less than 2,000 will have just three members and those with more will have five. This includes the seats allocated for women: for smaller councils, one seat will be set aside for a female member and, for larger ones, two seats.

The size of city councils are also going to change, but this is where things start to get more complicated. As a rule, city councils size is to be determined according to population:

This means that Kulhudhuffushi and the newly formed Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo Council will have seven seats. Addu City’s population, even with the breakaway of Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo, is above 25,000 so Addu will still have 11 seats – down from its current 13.

But the law specified exceptions to the population rule for Fuvahmulah and Malé. Even though Fuvahmulah City falls within the first population bracket, it is allocated a member for each of its eight districts and another for the mayor, meaning it will actually grow from seven to nine councillors. Malé, which has a registered population of over 76,000, will have the same number of councilors as it has MPs. This means Malé City Council will shrink from 19 to 16 members.

Women’s Development Committees (WDC) will mirror the size of the island or city’s council: an island with three councilors will have three WDC members, and so on.

The amendments also change how the WDC president is chosen. Currently, the president is chosen from the elected members during the committee’s first official meeting but this will now become its own elected position. WDC president will also become a “full-time” position while other members will be “part-time”.

A representative of WDC presidents from across the country is also nominated to sit on the LGA’s board, replacing a position currently held by an atoll council president.

After the local council elections in April. No atoll council presidents will be on the ballot in April. The current atoll councils will become defunct when the newly elected island council and city council members take office.

Atoll councils, in their current form, will not exist after the April polls. The law says all funds held by these councils will be distributed to the island councils in their jurisdiction. The assets and resources of atoll councils will be transferred to the LGA. 

The law mandates that the Civil Service Commission transfer all civil servants from atoll councils to similarly ranked positions in other offices within 60 days of the atoll councils becoming defunct. Until then, the civil servants will become staff of the LGA.

The law also gives the LGA discretion to set up local offices in the capital islands of all administrative divisions. This could mean that current atoll council offices may simply change to regional offices for the LGA with the same civil servants, the same assets and resources.

The LGA was previously led by a board of representatives from island, atoll, and city councils as well as three parliament-appointed members, the local government minister and a member from the finance ministry. Finally, the LGA board included a CEO, appointed by the President, to take charge of day-to-day operations under the board’s guidance.

Under the changes, the LGA will be wholly-led by the CEO with the board responsible for formulating policies and guidelines. The atoll council board member will be replaced by a representative from among WDC presidents.

The LGA board chair – the local government minister – will also be granted additional powers to veto the board’s decisions and delay their implementation by 72 hours. During this delay, the chair can ask the board to review, though their eventual decision is considered final.

The law also includes several new provisions consolidating power with the LGA and the central government while imposing tighter oversight on local councils. This gives the LGA power to suspend council members with no warning and allows the government discretion to proceed with development projects without waiting for approval from island councils.

Even before these amendments, the LGA could suspend councillors if a member or a council was found to have failed to fulfil responsibilities, was negligent, abused the council powers or resources or violated the code of conduct. 

However, the LGA was previously required to follow a step by step process that involved launching an inquiry with permission from the minister, issuing a warning, compiling a report and then suspending the member for up to three months.

Under the new law, the LGA can immediately issue a suspension based on the findings of an initial inquiry.

The law previously required the central government to gain council approval before carrying out projects in the council’s jurisdiction. With the new changes, the central government can proceed if council approval is not given in an “adequate amount of time”. Local councils will also be required to report their activities to the central government, to which the new law says they are answerable.

There is also an additional anti-defection provision that means a council member loses their seat if they defect to a new party while independent council members will lose their seats if they join a party.

The government says the reforms will reduce costs and that abolishing atoll councils will eliminate an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. President Muizzu has said this will allow island and city councils to directly coordinate with central government and state-owned companies, adding that savings will be redirected to local communities.

Ruling party MPs have described local government structure as bloated, questioning whether islands with a few hundred people need to have a five-member council.

The legal changes are the latest in a series of amendments to the Decentralisation Act since Muizzu took office, which critics say are centralising power. Island and city councils have been outspoken in their opposition, most notably to changes made in August that restricted their revenue generating powers.

Mohamed Basheer, President of Noonu Council and chairperson of the Maldives Local Council Association told the Maldives Independent that suggestions atoll councils have no work are true. 

He said this redundancy is by design, saying atoll councils have lacked jurisdiction or legal powers since the implementation of the decentralisation Act in 2010. For 2,000 years before this, however, Basheer said island administration had taken place at the atoll level.

The most important function of the atoll councils is regional planning and execution, he continued, while the third major role is regulating islands, businesses and resorts. Basheer said that, in a body where jurisdiction is not provided they will be left with little more to do than “holding football tournaments”. 

Basheer said atoll councils also provide government-agency services like issuing ID cards and passports though he sees these more as things a person is entitled to from birth. He real services are providing economic and social opportunities and strengthening health, education and public transportation. 

“These are not things any atoll council has the authority to do. [They are] not a body that has the power to allocate the resources required, and there is no role given whatsoever to consult with others and collaborate with the government to take the initiative to do that work,” he said. 

He said chapter 8 of the constitution clearly delineates atoll councils to provide decentralized administration. Basheer argued political and administrative decentralisation were being abolished, saying that provision of a bloc grant is not financial decentralisation if atoll resources have not been decentralised. State expenditure will not be reduced by replacing atoll councils with a new, unelected, body in the form of the expanded LGA. 

He noted that, while under the old constitution, both the island chief, atoll chief and the atoll committees were appointed, meaning one body would give in to the other when needed, he predicts that placing an elected body under an appointed one would lead to problems.

“What is already scarce in the Maldives is a collaborative status, so that collaborative status is being lost even further through this,” Basheer said. 

Commenting on new powers for the LGA to suspend council members, he said this would not make enforcement any easier, suggesting that a lack of transparency would disrupt peace within island communities. 

Adnan Abdulla, President of Haa Dhaalu Finey Council, which has a registered population of 585, told the Maldives Independent that the changes will make running the authority more challenging.

“Even now when we have five council members, one is always on leave or occupied with something else. Some days we have to cancel the meeting because we cannot meet the quorum,” he said. 

“As I see it, having five council members or three council members does not reduce the costs for the state,”  Adnan said, noting that allowances for attending meetings had already been slashed from MVR 2,000 to MVR 500 in recent years.

Imad Farooq, President of Alif Dhaalu Maamigili Council, which governs a registered population of 3,073 said they do not accept the reduction in council members – from seven to five – saying this was not enough councillors.

“The actual intention is cutting costs, but it does not reduce expenditure,” he said. “The government continues to spend, continues hiring political appointees. The previous government took a lot [of political appointees] and this government increased it further,” he added 

Mohamed Shiyam, president of Shaviyani Atoll Council noted around 90 percent of MPs during parliamentary debate did not understand the work of atoll councils, seeing them only as a barrier between island councils, the government and others. Shiyam said the law had allowed for island councils to directly engage with ministries and businesses. 

Shiyam said his council ran a lot of programmes for atoll citizens such as diving and administration courses to improve employability. He expressed concern over the local LGA branch’s new powers and about what would happen to citizens’ assets and finances, saying MVR 20 million in capital and assets was being held in banks.

Shiyam did, however, agree that some of the changes may be beneficial as councils can make it difficult for the government when allocating land for development.