The Election Commission (EC) has made an announcement regarding the forthcoming Parliament, stating that an additional six seats will be included.
Presently, the 19th Parliament consists of 87 members. However, with the inclusion of these new seats, the number of MPs in the next parliament will rise to 93.
The constituencies that will benefit from the new seats are as follows:
Two seats for Male’ City
One seat for Addu City
One seat for Kaafu Atoll
One seat for Baa Atoll
One seat for Gaafu Alifu Atoll
Currently, Male’ City is represented by 15 members, while Addu City has seven members. Baa, Kaafu, and Gaafu Alif Atolls each have three members.
Ismail Habeeb, the Vice President of the Election Commission (EC), revealed that changes to the parliamentary constituencies for the 2024 elections were approved on Tuesday, in accordance with Article 8(g) of the Constituency Determination Act. Habeeb also mentioned that the commission will soon provide detailed information on the total registered population figures for each administrative district.
According to the Constitution, one member of Parliament should be elected for every 5,000 people. Hence, as the population grows, the number of members increases correspondingly. Some MPs have suggested amendments to the Constitution to limit the number of members, but these proposals have been consistently rejected by the parliament thus far.
