Newly elected councilors take their oath of office this month

Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that the newly elected councilors will take their oath office on 26^th of this month.

Home Ministry said that the councilors, elected from the local council elections held in the country in order to consolidate local governance as envisaged by the Constitution and the Decentralization Act, will take their oath of office next Saturday corresponding to 26 February, 2011 at 9:00 in the morning.

Island Councilors oath taking ceremony will be held in their respective islands and Atoll Councilors will take their oaths in the capital islands of the atolls. Addu City Councilors will take their oaths in S. Hithadhoo and Male’ City Councilors will take their oaths in Male’.

 The Ministry urged all people to participate in the oath taking ceremonies of the newly elected councilors.

Meanwhile, in the first radio address after the historic local council elections held in the country, President Mohamed Nasheed outlined the arrangements that the government need to make in order to consolidate local governance as envisaged by the Constitution and the Decentralization Act.

Referring to the Article 71 of the Decentralization Act, which defines the national institutions that should be established to enable decentralized administration of the atolls, the President said an institution should be set up in each atoll to represent the national authority on decentralization.

He said the institution would represent the government in the atolls and facilitate coordination between the government and local councils on national issues and government policies.

The President expressed his confidence that all administrative arrangements, including the appointment of Local Government Authority, would be finalized before the newly elected councillors take the oath of their office.

Further, he reiterated his confidence that all the elected councillors would work for the development of their constituencies