LGA’s takeover of atoll councils’ responsibilities is ‘unconstitutional’, says Suood

The Local Government Authority (LGA) taking over the responsibilities of atoll councils is unconstitutional, says former Supreme Court judge Husnu Al Suood.

In a statement on Thursday, the LGA said that with the abolishment of the atoll councils, the legal responsibility for providing all the services that were provided by the atoll councils now falls on the authority.

It said that the amendment to the Decentralization Act that abolished atoll councils also transfers all of it assets and legal responsibilities to the LGA, and empowers the authority to establish local offices to replace the atoll councils.

The LGA stated that it therefore does not believe the dissolution of atoll councils creates a legal vacuum hindering the decentralized administration of Maldives as enshrined in the Constitution.

Responding to this statement, Suood wrote on X that the Constitution does not allow for administrative districts to be run by unelected officials.

“And a law passed by the Majlis cannot permit something that is not permitted by the Constitution,” wrote Suood.

Suood described the stipulation that administrative districts must be run by councils elected by the public as the biggest change to the administration of the state brought by the current Constitution which took effect in 2008.

“This principle is a basic feature of the Constitution,” he wrote.

“The Constitution does not permit for persons who are not elected by the people to run administrative districts even if atoll councils are abolished.”

Qaanoonu asaaseege 230 adhi 231 oiy gothun qaanoonu asaasee ge jadhuvalu 2 gaivaa idhaaree dhaairaa eh rayyithun inthikhaabu nukuraa faraathakun hingumah gaanoonu asaasee huhdhaeh nudhey.

Qaanoonu asaasee huhdha nukuraa kameh majileehun faaskuraa gaanoonakun huhdha… pic.twitter.com/PTdHBAwKGF

— Husnu Al Suood (@husnusuood) April 16, 2026

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu got elected to office on the promise of reforming the system of decentralization, including by creating a dedicated ministry to improve the functioning of councils. But the local government ministry created to deliver this promise faced the axe on Tuesday, when President Muizzu downsized his cabinet from 20 to 15 in the wake of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC)’s heavy defeat in the local council elections held on April 4.

Suood, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2019 during the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration, resigned in March 2025, after accusing President Muizzu of intimidating the Supreme Court’s judges and subverting judicial independence.

His resignation came less than a week after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended he and two other judges as they heard a constitutional case challenging controversial anti-defection clauses that were written into the Constitution in November 2024, citing an ongoing criminal investigation against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) – the details of which remain unclear.

The JSC later opened misconduct investigations against the other two judges, Mahaz Ali Zahir and Dr. Azmiralda Zahir. Despite claiming that the allegations against them were baseless and that the investigations by the JSC were tainted by the denial of due process to them, the two were dismissed by the Parliament in May 2025.