Parliamentary Elections Postponed to April 21st

This year's parliamentary elections will be held on April 21st, the Elections Commission has decided.

Earlier, the Elections Commission had fixed March 17th for the election. However, the MDP, using their parliamentary majority, passed a bill to postpone the parliamentary elections amid concerns that the day coincided with the month of Ramadan.

The bill was passed and sent to the President for approval. He pointed out legal issues in the bill and sent it back to Parliament. Among the reasons for refusing the bill were concerns that the bill contained some issues that had nothing to do with postponement of elections, and that postponement of elections as per the bill might prevent the constitutionally stipulated timeframe from being met.

However, the opposition MDP passed the bill once more, with the same language from when it had been passed earlier. The President said he would seek the Attorney General's advice on the approval of the bill, but ultimately approved the bill.

The Elections Commission held an emergency meeting on Thursday to decide on the date of the elections. At the meeting, the commission decided to hold the election on April 21st.