Dissolving IDCs an undemocratic power grab, says DQP
04 Dec 2009, 4:23 PM
The government’s abolition of the Island Development Committees (IDC) is a blow against democracy in the Maldives, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has said.
“This is a mockery of the public and the Constitution,” the party said, “and more a feature of autocratic rule than democracy.”
The Maldivian Cabinet dissolved the IDCs – elected bodies of five to seven members, functioning like a local council – last month after
courts ruled they had no legal authority under the new constitution.
courts ruled they had no legal authority under the new constitution.
Government-appointed advisory boards will administer the islands until local councils can be elected, assuming a decentralisation bill (currently at committee stage) is passed by parliament.
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