The Elections Commission (EC) has rescheduled the parliamentary elections for April 21.
This came after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu ratified the amendment bill to the General Elections Act which prevents elections during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Ramadan begins on March 10 this year and the Elections Commission (EC) first scheduled the parliamentary polls for March 17.
Following the postponement of the elections, some administrative work including the voters' list and re-registration needs revision.
A total of 386 candidates are contesting in the parliamentary elections. There are 130 independent candidates and 238 candidates from seven political parties. The candidates from political parties include 22 women and 216 men.
There are 93 constituencies, but no party has fielded candidates for all the seats. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has 90 candidates while the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) has 89 candidates.
The Parliament first approved the bill on February 11 to hold voting 10 days after Ramadan if an election coincides with the fasting month.
But the bill was returned to the Parliament on Sunday for reconsideration as the Attorney General believes that it could obstruct free and fair elections.
However, the Parliament reapproved the bill without any changes on Wednesday. Muizzu sought advice from the Attorney General before ratifying the bill.
Attorney General Ahmed Usham said that he would look to avoid conflict between the powers of the state.
He was referring to the legal issues that would arise if a bill that was reapproved by the Parliament had not been ratified by the President.
According to the President's Office on Thursday night, Muizzu ratified the bill upon the advice of Attorney General Ahmed Usham.
Political parties and legal experts criticized Muizzu for delaying the ratification of the bill and accused him of violating the Constitution.
Article 91 (b) of the Constitution states that if a bill returned by the President is passed by a majority without any changes, it shall be ratified by the President and published in the Government Gazette."
There is also a Supreme Court ruling to not delay ratification of bills reapproved by the Parliament.
