Monday
29th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Minister of Cities, Adam Shareef.
Cities, Local Government and Public Works Minister Adam Shareef Umar has said that the reason why many people do not vote in elections and why people are not interested in contesting elections should be understood.
Speaking at the launch of the training program on the implementation of the Housing Tenancy Act, the Minister said one of the greatest satisfactions for empowering the people through the decentralization system is that the people have the power to elect councilors who will work with them.
However, there have been concerns about the lack of interest in voting in the by-elections and other elections held in Maldives in the past six years, he said.
The minister said the turnout for the mayoral election held on 13th of this month was worryingly low. The minister also noted that there were no opposing candidates in the elections held in some parts of the country.
Only 31.8 percent of the eligible population turned out to vote in the mayoral by-election.
"This is something I think we need to think about more because we need to remember that people have a constitutional right to vote and the law gives them the opportunity to elect someone they want, someone who assumes responsibility for making changes in their best interest," he said.
The Minister said the people should be involved in exercising their right to vote. He further stated that private associations can play an important role in raising awareness among the people about why they should vote and understanding why that right is not being exercised.
“The LGA along with the Election Commission believes that other institutions, especially NGOs, should pay special attention to this issue and we should work to identify the concerns and challenges,” he said.
The Election Commission has also expressed concern over the low turnout in the elections. In addition to the mayoral election, the turnout in the two rounds of last year's presidential election was lower than the previous presidential election in 2018.