The parliament gave less than 24 hours to submit opinions on the bill on amending the Decentralization Act.
The bill proposed on behalf of the government has been slammed by dozens of councils for aiming to restrict their powers.
The bill was opened for public opinion at 6 pm on Monday.
“Any comments or suggestions on the bill should be sent to the Decentralization Committee at decentralization_committee@majlis.gov.mv or in writing to the Majlis Secretariat before 1 pm on Tuesday, August 5, 2025,” the announcement said.
Comments on the bill were opened after office hours on Monday, with a total of 19 hours to submit opinions.
The bill was submitted by Fuvahmulah South MP Ibrahim Hussain. It imposes restrictions on hiring permanent and contract staff, leasing land, lagoon and reef areas under the jurisdiction of the council and initiating unplanned development projects if councils have only one year left in their term.
