Council elections delayed for third time over flu outbreak
“President Yameen is convinced he can’t win a fair election and has delayed #LCE2017 for the 3rd time. A case of lies upon lies. Unacceptable,” tweeted former President Mohamed Nasheed, the opposition leader.
18 Mar 2017, 9:00 AM
The elections commission has postponed the local council elections for the third time, claiming that the situation in the Maldives is not conducive for campaigning due to an ongoing flu outbreak.
The polls have been delayed from April 15 to May 6.
Amjad Mustafa, the electoral body’s vice president, told the press on Friday night that the Health Protection Agency advised the commission that public gatherings would cause the flu to spread.
“Elections have been delayed before due to national disasters, natural disasters. That is, due to the 2004 tsunami disaster, the parliamentary election that was due to take place then was delayed, too,” Amjad said at the impromptu press conference.
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