Mariya say elections were never meant to be held together

Former Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi said on Sunday that the framers of the Maldives’ 2008 Constitution did not intend for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on the same day.

Mariya, who served as a member of the special assembly that drafted the constitution, made the remarks during a press conference held to announce a campaign opposing the proposed merger of the two elections.

The issue arose after the People’s Majlis passed a constitutional amendment to hold presidential and parliamentary elections together. Under the amendment, the term of the current parliament would end on 1 December 2028.

According to the constitution, such an amendment must receive approval from the public through a referendum.

President Mohamed Muizzu issued a decree on 16 February to hold the referendum on 4 April, the same day scheduled for local council elections.

During the parliamentary committee review of the amendment, Ahmed Usham said the framers of the constitution had not intended to prevent the two elections from being held together. Usham also said the current six-month gap between the elections does not allow sufficient time to evaluate the performance of the president.

Responding to the remarks, Mariya said the government’s proposal concerns holding the elections on the same day rather than adjusting the time between them.

“We are discussing whether the two elections should be held together or not. We are not discussing whether the gap should be four months, two months or six months,” she said.

Mariya said the special assembly had considered the issue when determining election timelines and intended to maintain a period between the presidential and parliamentary polls.

“The parliamentary election comes about five months after the presidential election. The public has time to assess the leader elected as president and consider whether the promises made are being fulfilled,” she said.

Former People’s Majlis member Hassan Latheef also spoke at the press conference and said he had been involved in drafting the constitution.

Latheef said the constitution was designed so that appointments to independent institutions of the state would not expire at the same time. According to him, this was intended to prevent a single administration from gaining control of multiple institutions simultaneously.

He said the drafting process included discussions on whether the gap between elections should remain.

“We discussed whether keeping a period of six months would create problems. After discussions, it was decided that it would not be an issue and that it could serve as a check on the government,” he said.

The proposed amendment to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections together will take effect only if approved by voters in the upcoming referendum.