The Election Commission (EC) has asked political parties to put up banners and other campaign materials in a way that does not block the views of security cameras across Male' and the traffic light on the Sinamale' bridge.
EC Vice-President Ismail Habib said the commission has noticed that campaign materials of presidential candidates are being placed in various parts of the city, disrupting the view of police-installed security cameras, streets, and traffic lights on bridges.
The parties have been given 24 hours to remove such posters. Habib said he had previously shared these issues with the candidates' official election agents, the EC, and the police. Habib also urged the parties not to repeat such illegal acts
In addition, campaign materials used on roads and buildings should be affixed with permission from the relevant authorities. He said that the commission does not want to use the police to stop illegal political parties, he said.
Earlier, the Election Commission had ordered not to display campaign banners and flags in the EC headquarters area at the Darbar and Port Complex buildings. The city council has also asked the parties to remove the banners from the curd trees on Boduthakurufaanu Road.
All eight candidates are campaigning for the presidential election scheduled for the 9th of next month. The campaign banners and flags have been hoisted in different parts of the city. All the candidates are traveling to different parts of the country.
A total of 282,395 individuals are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election. These include 21,000 new voters.
