President announces plan to introduce recall vote mechanism

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has announced plans to introduce legal provisions to allow constituents to remove Members of Parliament and local council members during their term.

The President made the announcement on Saturday night while speaking at the ‘Express with President’ forum held with youth.

He said the government will propose amendments to enable a recall vote mechanism if an elected representative loses the confidence of constituents or fails to meet criteria set out in law.

“This means that if the performance of a Member of Parliament or a local council member declines, or if they fail to meet criteria defined by law, the public will have the power to initiate a removal process,” the President said.

He explained that the process would involve submitting a petition with a required number of signatures, followed by a vote to determine whether the seat should be vacated.

The President said the proposed mechanism would allow constituents to take action during an elected term.

He added that the measure is intended to strengthen oversight of elected representatives at both parliamentary and local council levels.

The administration has previously introduced constitutional amendments requiring a public referendum to determine whether a Member of Parliament should lose their seat after dismissal from their political party.

Under the current framework, if a majority of constituents vote against removal, the member retains the seat as an independent.