Yameen opposes proposal to combine pres, parliamentary elections
Yameen said holding parliamentary elections separately allowed parliament to act as a check on the president after a presidential election.
Former president Abdulla Yameen said on Sunday that there was no justification for combining presidential and parliamentary elections for the purpose of reducing expenditure.
The government has proposed an amendment to the Constitution to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on the same date and to shorten the five-year term of the current People’s Majlis by setting its end date at 1 December 2028. An extraordinary session of parliament began on Monday to consider the proposal.
Speaking at a rally of the People’s National Front, Yameen said holding parliamentary elections separately allowed parliament to act as a check on the president after a presidential election.
He said that when elections are held separately, a newly elected parliament can respond to actions taken by a president after assuming office. Combining the two elections, he said, would result in a parliament that is not elected to oversee the president’s actions.
Yameen said there was no basis for merging the elections solely to reduce costs. He questioned whether expenditure related to repeated election-related travel by President Mohamed Muizzu had been reduced and whether any such savings had been returned.
He said the proposal conflicted with broader public interests. According to Yameen, voters should be able to assess the performance of a president and members of parliament during their respective terms before deciding whether to re-elect them. Holding both elections together, he said, removed that option.
The proposed amendment states that holding the two elections together would reduce state expenditure by MVR 80 million. If passed, the 2028 presidential election and the 2029 parliamentary election would be held on the same date.
The current 20th parliament commenced its term on 28 May 2024. Under the existing Constitution, its five-year term is set to expire in May 2029. The amendment proposes changing the start and end of parliamentary terms to December, with dissolution upon completion of the five-year period.
