Parliament committee to seek parties’ views on bill to merge elections

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has decided to seek the views of political parties on the government’s proposal to amend the Constitution to hold presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously.

The decision was taken at a committee meeting held today. The committee also agreed to consult the Elections Commission (EC) and the Attorney General’s Office on the proposed amendment.

According to the committee, a meeting with the Attorney General’s Office has been scheduled for Monday, during which the views of political parties and the EC on the bill will be discussed.

Member of the committee, Baarah MP Ibrahim Shujau said it was important to seek the opinions of political parties as the Maldives operates under a multi-party system.

“In addition, the Elections Commission is responsible for fulfilling all legal obligations related to conducting elections, so the legal aspects also need to be discussed,” he said.

The motion to seek views from the relevant parties was proposed by committee member Shujau and was passed unanimously by members present at the meeting.

Committee chair and Maafushi MP Hussain Riza said the committee has already received some feedback on the constitutional amendment bill.

The committee had initially planned to complete its review of the bill by the 15th of this month. Parliament began deliberations on the bill during an extraordinary sitting held while the parliament was in recess.