President Mohamed Muizzu has declared Sunday, 21 April, and Monday, 22 April, as government holidays to facilitate the smooth execution of the Parliamentary Elections 2024. This decision is a response to the anticipated extensive involvement of government employees and the general public in various election-related activities.
The Elections Commission of the Maldives (EC) had previously requested that the government declare the polling day, Sunday, 21 April, as a government holiday. The EC further proposed that Monday, 22 April, be designated as a government holiday, given the multitude of critical tasks such as vote counting, result announcements, and other election-related activities that are scheduled to take place.
Meanwhile, the EC announced that it would make arrangements to set up polling stations in three countries to ensure that Maldivians residing overseas would not be disenfranchised. Ballot boxes will be placed in Thiruvananthapuram in India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, the Secretary General of the EC, Hassan Zakariyya, told a local media outlet.
While there were voters who had reregistered to cast their ballots in London, the United Kingdom, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand, Zakariyya clarified that the number of re-registrations from these locations did not meet the threshold required to establish polling stations in these countries.