PPM wants to let convicts contest local council elections
Opposition MPs accused the ruling party of seeking to grant the PPM’s ticket to convicts ahead of April’s local council elections.
07 Feb 2017, 9:00 AM
The ruling party-controlled parliament on Tuesday moved ahead with contentious legal changes that would allow individuals convicted of serious crimes to contest in the April 15 local council elections.
MP Ali Mohamed of the Progressive Party of Maldives proposed relaxing the eligibility criteria to allow individuals to contest two years after being pardoned or completing their jail sentence.
Following a heated debate at today’s sitting, MPs voted 41-23 to send the amendments proposed to the 2010 local council elections law to a committee for further review.
The law presently bars individuals convicted of graft, bribery, drug abuse, drug dealing, child molestation, rape, and offences with punishments prescribed in Islamic shariah from becoming candidates for island, atoll and city councils.
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