President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the Fifteenth Amendment to the Decentralisation Act (Act No. 7/2010), introducing changes aimed at reducing the frequency and financial burden of mid-term by-elections in local councils.

The amendment addresses the rising number of council and Women’s Development Committee (WDC) vacancies, which have led to repeated by-elections. Under the new provisions, if a council chairperson's seat becomes vacant with 548 days or fewer remaining in the council’s term, a replacement will not be elected unless the remaining members are too few to meet quorum requirements.

A similar rule will apply to vacancies in WDCs — if a position becomes vacant with 548 days or less remaining in the term, no by-election will be held unless the remaining members cannot form a quorum.

The bill was approved during the 32nd sitting of the first session of the 2025 parliamentary term on May 15 and has now been published in the Government Gazette, officially bringing the changes into effect.